Flash Blade
by Impure Perfection
Summary: Memories of the past can alter the future in ways no one can predict. A particular memory causes a change in Naruto's life that will in turn bring about a change to the ninja world unlike any other. NarutoXIno. M for fighting, language, and lemons later.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is a story a friend of mine by the name of Demons Wings started but never finished. I liked the story and he agreed to let me take it over so I've rewrote it to be more my style than his, plot is the same however so the first few chapters will be familiar to anyone who read his version of the story. Anyways hope you enjoy my redo of this story.**

Impure Perfection

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><p><strong>Memories Forgotten<strong>

Kakashi grinned as he watched his two remaining students spar. Despite the blow Sasuke's defection had done to his team's reputation the remaining two were doing a good job of building that reputation back up.

Naruto, the blonde energetic boy had stopped his pranks and was quickly becoming a well known and respected face around the village. Not only because he had officially been announced as the apprentice of Jiraiya the toad sage, but also because Naruto was becoming a force to reckon with. His vast chakra reserves and brute force in taijutsu were devastating on their own, add in his liberal use of the rasengan and it only doubled his destructive prowess.

Sakura, a girl with short pink hair and pale white skin was studying under Tsunade and was quickly becoming a well known medic. On days she didn't spend with her team she was in the hospital working wherever she could with the few skills Tsunade had taught her. The pinkette was also spending a great deal of time in the school, helping out with the classes. Helping the teachers out and occasionally tutoring kids that were struggling to pass.

"Naruto-baka! Hold still" Upon hearing that Kakashi pulled himself from memory lane and focused back in on the match. Naruto was sprinting away from Sakura who was chasing him across the training ground with a kunai in her hand. Kakashi sighed and shook his head, they were still the same kids they had always been though.

Naruto laughed as Sakura chased him, he knew he had the reserves to run circles around her all day. Though that wasn't the sort of fighting he enjoyed, so instead of running endlessly around the training ground Naruto sprinted into the surrounding forest and as soon as he reached the trees leapt up and grabbed onto a branch using chakra to stick to it with his hands. Swinging himself up and around he came to a rest crouched on the branch watching as Sakura shot past him. The moment she had gone past him he dove back to the ground and rolled as he hit the ground. As he rolled he had created a single cross hand seal, and the moment he stood up five shadow clones popped into existence around him.

"Scatter!" He hissed out to them and for once they obeyed and darted off in different directions, each in search of the pink haired teammate. Naruto hadn't paused in his movement to create the clones and kept moving with the momentum to jump back into the trees in search of his pink haired teammate. Turns out she found him instead.

"Cha!" Sakura shouted as she dropped out of the tree tops with her fist cocked back and loaded with chakra ready to splatter Naruto. Instead of trying to avoid the attack Naruto grinned and crossed his arms to point both to the left and to the right. Sakura glanced in both directions and saw two shadow clones coming at her, and they would pincer her before she reached Naruto. Instead of the panic Naruto was expecting to see on her face Sakura just grinned.

Naruto's confusion was cleared up when Sakura suddenly burst into flower petals.

"Shit. Genjutsu!" The blonde went to dispel the genjutsu only to have it broken for him by Sakura's fist smashing into the side of his head and sending him flying over the tree tops.

"Take that!" Sakura cheered as she watched the boy go flying. She was about to chase after him when her ankle was suddenly grabbed. Looking down she saw a shadow clone had grabbed her, she only had time to let out a squeak before the clone swung her around. A second clone had been waiting and as the first clone swung Sakura around the second one jumped up and slammed a fist into Sakura's stomach. The kunoichi let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her but that was all, mind kicking into high gear she used a substitution with the second clone so that the clone ended up in the grasp of the first clone. Whirling around Sakura thew a shuriken into each of the clones before they could recover. "Pesky clones." Sakura mumbled as she rubbed her bruised abdomen.

She had been about to start healing her stomach when she sensed three more clones closing in on her. One from above and two from beneath. Letting out a sigh Sakura decided to deal with the clones before she healed herself.

Naruto landed back in the clearing with a thud. Standing up with a groan he rubbed his head.

"Sheesh, and I thought she used to hit hard! Her learning Baa-chan's super strength only makes things worse." The blonde boy mumbled, he knew that Sakura was still in the woods fighting his clones. Grinning he formed a hand seals and created an fifty strong army of clones that immediately rushed off into the woods to aid their brethren clones. "Heheh let's see her have fun with that." He waited a good minute or two before creating another army of clones, only difference was this army only had forty nine clones. Instead of sending another wave of clones in Naruto joined in with the bunch in order to surprise Sakura.

When the second wave and Naruto reached Sakura she was still fending off five or six clones form the last wave. Sakura saw the oncoming reinforcements and groaned.

"Gah, curse that baka and his limitless chakra reserves."

"Ahh don't be that way Sakura-chan!" All the Naruto's called out at once before bursting out into laughter. Which turned out to be a bad decision. Apparently being laughed at was all Sakura was needing in order to start dealing out super strong blows like her mentor. Instead of taking a while to git rid of the new batch of clones Sakura mowed through them. Laughing nervously the real Naruto back peddled towards the field. "Hehe come on Sakura-chan, can't you take a joke?" Having a kunai thrown hard enough embed itself up to the hilt in a tree thrown at him was his answer.

"Get back here!" Sakura shouted chasing after her blonde teammate. Naruto created another batch of twenty or so clones and kept running. Sadly for him the clones didn't last long enough. Just as he was about to launch himself into the clearing he felt a chakra infused fist slam full force into his back sending him rocketing across the training ground.

As he rolled helplessly through the air a stray thought entered into his mind. Perhaps it was the sensation of flying through the air that jogged his memory, or just the fact he might have a concussion from the punch. Whatever it was, a memory he didn't even realize he still had surfaced in his mind.

**FlashBack**

Naruto watched through crimson red eyes as his adversary fled him. Through the use of Kyuubi's chakra the blonde had managed to turn the tide of the fight around, no longer was he running from Sasuke but instead Sasuke was struggling to keep up with him. In fact, the reason Sasuke was fleeing at the moment is because Naruto had just finished beating the raven haired boy fifty feet under the surface of the lake they were fighting on.

Deciding he had given the Uchiha plenty of a head start Naruto instinctively channeled the insane amounts of chakra he now possessed out through the bottom of his feet. Putting barely an inch of space between his feet and the surface of the water Naruto willed himself forward and in a flash shot forward far faster than he had ever been able to move before. He wasn't running across the water, he was gliding. His feet never once touched the ground as flashed in front of Sasuke and dealt a devastating kick to the Uchiha's face.

**FlashBack**

Naruto's eyes popped open, not knowing when his eyes had shut. Seeing that he was about to impact the ground from his Sakura-induced flight he rolled so his right hand touched the ground. Once his hand touched down he used chakra to bring himself to a stop. Sakura popped out of the tree line charging towards him but he paid her no mind as he closed his eyes and tried to recreate the feeling he had gotten during that moment of instinct in his fight against Sasuke.

Sakura saw him close his eyes and grinned thinking he had accepted defeat. It wasn't until she was closing in on him that her warning senses kicked in and she jumped back from him. He was crouched over with his right hand touching the ground and his left hand resting against the bicep of his right hand. Both Kakashi and Sakura watched as a small pulse of chakra emanated from Naruto laying the grass surrounding him flat down against the ground. What happened next shocked both of the watching ninja.

Naruto lifted himself up off the ground, a mere inch of space separating his feet and hand from the ground. Cerulean blue eyes snapping only was the only warning Sakura got before he charged. In a monumental burst of speed Naruto was in front of her before she even realized he had moved. Thrusting his fist forward and coming to a stop Naruto channeled all the momentum and force he had into that single punch making the punch easily twice as hard as anything Sakura had ever felt. The single blow sent Sakura careening across the training ground where she slammed into a tree hard enough for her back to break the bark on the tree.

Sakura slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Oh shit." Naruto breathed as it sunk in what he had just done. He was about to see if she was okay when Kakashi spoke up.

"Don't worry Naruto, she is probably just knocked out. You did hit rather hard with that last blow. May I ask what that last move was?" The blonde stood up straight and scratched the back of his nervously.

"Eh, something I thought of?" Naruto tried hoping Kakashi would let it go. He didn't. The silver haired jonin simply gave him a flat looking that clearly indicated Kakashi wanted a more detailed answer. Sighing Naruto's head drooped. "Fine. It was something I used against Sasuke in our last fight. After I tapped into _its_ chakra I kind of just went with what felt right. And that is what felt right."

"Why use it now? I haven't seen you using it before now, so why the sudden change?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Well, I didn't really remember it until now. It just kind of popped into my mind and I decided to give it a try. I didn't think it would work so well." Naruto mumbled the last bit looking down at the ground.

"Hmm, well what say you give it another try?" Kakashi said and watched with a grin as Naruto's head snapped back up to look at him in shock.

"Your serious?" Naruto asked in shock, he had been afraid his sensei would ban him from using any sort of techniques learned from the fox.

"Yes I am. Whatever it is you just did it was a powerful move, if you could learn to control it and use it you'd have one hell of a technique on your hands. Though I do believe I will be using the sharingan for this one." The silver haired man said as he reached up to move the forehead protector from blocking his left eye. With the metal out of his way he opened the eye to reveal a fully matured sharingan with three tomoes in it.

Naruto grinned and nodded once before crouching back down. It was always a rush to take on his sensei when the jonin decided to get serious. Resuming the position he had been in Naruto closed his eyes and did exactly what he had done to Sakura.

Kakashi watched closely to Naruto's every move. When he saw chakra begin to literally pour out of the blonde's feet Kakashi had to restrain himself from allowing his jaw to fall open, the amount of chakra Naruto was pouring out was enough to give the entire area an underwater affect. In a burst of speed even Kakashi's lone sharingan had difficulty keeping up with, Naruto shot forward. Moving to the left Kakashi narrowly avoided the punch aimed at his face, before he could counter Naruto kept moving and was across the training ground in the blink of an eye. Resetting himself Kakashi prepared for the next assault while Naruto came to a halt and turned around, obviously not having much skill at moving at such insane speeds.

Sakura groaned as she reentered the realm of consciousness. The first thing she felt was that she was drowning. That suffocating feeling forced her to wake up faster than normal, eyes popping open she saw Naruto lift off the ground for a fraction of a second before he vanished in a orange blur. Kakashi dodged to the left to avoid something which Sakura assumed must have been Naruto. Sure enough the blonde reappeared on the other side of the training ground, all within the span of a heart beat.

Naruto slowly turned around to face his sensei again, a massive grin on his face. He couldn't explain it or describe it but the sensation of moving at that speed was so exhilarating he couldn't but let out a laugh.

"Haha this is amazing!" He didn't know that he sounded crazy at the moment, all he knew was that he had discovered something wonderful. Hearing Kakashi moving Naruto focused his attention back on his sensei who was bracing for another attack. Grinning Naruto crouched down again before letting the chakra flow freely out the souls of his feet and lift himself up off the ground. "Here I come Kaka-sensei!" Naruto shouted as the only warning before he became a blur once more.

Instead of going directly at Kakashi as he had last time Naruto aimed a bit to the right of his target and once he reached him Naruto began to run circles around his sensei. Literally. Kakashi was standing in the middle of a tornado of sand being kicked up from Naruto's movements waiting on the blonde to attack. When he did attack Kakashi had half a second at most to react, only his sharingan and jonin speed of reflexes allowed him to even block the blow. It was a kick aimed at Kakashi's right side that came from behind. Twisting to the right Kakashi used his right arm vertically to block the blow while his left arm supported the right to help absorb the brunt of the force. Despite all that the kick still had enough momentum behind it to knock Kakashi back a step. Without a moment to breath Kakashi was forced to somersault backwards over another kick.

Instead of leaping out of the whirlwind of sand as he had planned the whirlwind moved with him so that Kakashi landed right back in the middle of the sand storm. And sure enough the moment he touched down attacks started to come at him from all directions. Giving up on even trying to block the incoming hail of blows Kakashi decided instead to avoid as many as possible and just redirect the rest of them.

It had only been a minute or two when suddenly the attacks stopped and the whirlwind of sand died down. Naruto, having seemingly blacked out, fell to the ground with a thud and his remaining momentum rolled him across the ground several times before he finally came to rest on his stomach. Kakashi who was panting and trying to catch his breath shut his sharingan eye to conserve chakra before walking over to the blonde. Finding nothing wrong with the boy Kakashi sighed once before opening his sharingan eye back up to see if that eye could see what had caused the boy to black out suddenly. Yet still he could find nothing wrong.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei what happened?" Sakura called out as she stood up and walked over to Naruto, as she stood up her stomach protested and she wrapped an arm around it to try and ease the pain.

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up and noticed for the first time that Sakura was awake. "Oh, I don't know he just blacked out suddenly. I'm taking the both of you to the hospital, you to make sure he didn't damage something and him to find out what happened."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest but Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder and on Naruto's back and before she could get a word out the trio vanished in a shushin.

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**Konoha Hospital**

Shizune was making her rounds at the hospital. She had just given Tsunade a fresh stack of paperwork to keep her busy for a while which left the raven haired medic nin with plenty of time to tend to her own duties. At least she was supposed to have plenty of time. However having an exhausted looking Hatake Kakashi suddenly shushin into the hospital lobby with an unconscious Naruto and Sakura who was clutching her midriff tends to ruin one's plans.

"What happened?" Shizune demanded as she immediately went into medic mode and started analyzing the three for any obvious injuries.

"Sakura got hit in the stomach _hard_ by Naruto's new move, Naruto blacked out for no reason that I can see and I'm just a bit winded." Kakashi replied trying his hardest not to appear to tired. Did he hurt? Yes! His arms were sore and he was certain he had some hair line fractures from blocking some of Naruto's kicks but he wasn't saying that aloud. The copy nin utterly loathed having anyone heal him. Seeing Shizune nod he mentally let out a sigh of relief as she paid more attention to Sakura and Naruto than to him.

"Alright, you pick up Naruto and follow me. Sakura can you walk?" Shizune asked of Sakura while Kakashi slung one of Naruto's arms over his shoulder to haul the blonde wherever Shizune led.

"Hai." Sakura replied standing up, only to bend back over as her stomach sorely protested being stretched out at the moment. "Ugh, sort of." With a little aid from Shizune the group moved down the halls to a vacant room, along the way Shizune had told a messenger to summon the Hokage. Once they reached the room Sakura laid down on one bed and curled up in a ball to aleviate the pain in her coming from her stomach. Kakashi laid Naruto on the other bed before collapsing into the chair in the room.

"I'll tend to Sakura first, Lady Tsuande will handle Naruto-kun." Shizune said only for Sakura to wave her off.

"I'm just sore from the punch you can tend to Naruto." Sakura insisted. Seeing Shizune hesitate Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to help Naruto?"

"Er no that's not it. It's just..." Shizune trailed off hoping Sakura would drop it. She didn't.

"Just what? Why won't you heal Naruto? Is something wrong with him? Did he do something? Is..." The pinkette's questions were cut off by Tsunade walking in.

"Nothing is wrong with the gaki. But I'm his personal medic and unless its an emergency I'm the only one supposed to heal him." Seeing Sakura open her mouth for more question's Tsunade cut her off again. "That is that and you will leave it alone, understood?" Tsunade snapped and Sakura blinked at the harsh tone her mentor had taken.

"Yes mam." Sakura mumbled out as Shizune started to work on mending the damage done to her midriff. Tsunade nodded at Sakura's submission before turning and starting a diagnostic jutsu on Naruto, beginning with his head and working her way down. It wasn't until she reached his core that she saw the problem.

"Well Kakashi, what on earth were you teaching the kid cause he is suffering from chakra exhaustion?" Hearing the silver haired jonin chuckle Tsunade whirled on him. "And what is so funny about that?"

"Nothing!" Kakashi replied automatically. "But considering how much chakra he was burning through it is a wonder it didn't kill him." As soon as the words left his mouth Kakashi regretted saying them as not only Tsunade started to glare bloody hell at him but Shizune as well. "Hey hey I didn't teach the kid that trick!" He said defensively while holding his hands up.

"Then who did?" Tsunade hissed out. When she saw kakashi's lone eye move over to Sakura for a moment the busty hokage understood. "Ah! Which explains why it took so much chakra if he wasn't in that mood."

"But how did he learn a move from it? I didn't think they were communicating." Shizune asked, having gotten back to work on healing Sakura but still listening in on the conversation. Beneath her Sakura was listening in on the conversation, obviously not in on it as she didn't have the faintest idea what they were talking about.

"They aren't. He says he learned the move from it by remembering a move he pulled against Sasuke while running on it's instincts." Kakashi answered.

That part of the conversation Sakura did get.

"Naruto used that speed thing on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted as she sat upright despite Shizune's protest. "But where did he learn it? You guys keep saying he learning it from _it_ but what is _it_?" Sakura demanded only to cower when Tsunade's honey brown eyes turned to level a stern glare on her.

"I said you would leave the subject alone did I not? This is a grown up conversation, now be silent or leave. Your privileged to even hear this much."

"Fine!" Sakura said turning and putting her feet back on the ground. She still felt a dull ache coming from her stomach but it was tolerable now. "I don't want any more secrets on this team though, the last secret caused Sasuke-kun to leave!" And with that the pinkette stormed out of the room. Tsunade sighed and shook her head.

"Foolish girl." Deciding to handle the angered youth later Tsunade turned back and finished running the diagnostic jutsu over Naruto. She knew what was wrong with him but it never hurt to be sure. "So now that she is gone what exactly did the gaki learn from the fox?" Tsunade asked as she continued to walk.

"I honestly have no idea what to call it or even refer to it as." Kakashi said thinking back to what he had seen Naruto do earlier. "I know he floods ungodly amounts of chakra out the bottom of his feet and uses that to move in a new sort of way but beyond that I don't know." Hearing Tsunade let out a gasp and start to tear off Naruto's shoes Kakashi stood back up. "What's the matter?"

"Ungodly amounts of chakra you say?"

"Ya, why?" Kakashi asked. Instead of answering Tsunade finished removing Naruto's shoes before stepping aside. Both Kakashi and Shizune gasped and went wide eyed at what they saw.

Naruto's feet were burnt beyond recognition. The tips of his toes were nothing more than charcoal.

"He has third degree chakra burns to an extent I've never seen before. I can't tell which he blacked out first from, the pain of this or the chakra exhaustion." Tsunade said as she watched Kakashi deflate and fall back into his chair at the sight of his student's feet.

"I had no idea." Kakashi mumbled absent mindedly. "Will he be able to walk again?"

"Oh he will be up and at em by the end of the day. For whatever reason the fox has kicked the healing factor into high gear, I'd help with the healing process but whatever the fox is doing is beyond my comprehension. My helping would probably just get in the way."

"Your serious?" Both Shizune and Kakashi asked at the same time. Kakashi because he was thrilled to hear his student hadn't been crippled. Shizune because she understood what sort of medical miracle it would take for anyone to recover from such a burn, let alone in a single day.

"Yep. Come see for yourself. In fact..." Tsunade paused as she ran the diagnostic jutsu over Naruto's feet again. "The fox is doing more than healing. Whatever he is doing he is hardening the skin on and around Naruto's feet so that the next time he uses this it won't damage him."

"Great!" Naruto groaned out causing all three adults in the room to jump in shock. "Just what I need, more of a boost from the fox."

"What's wrong with the Kyuubi helping?" Shizune asked.

"I want to a ninja on my own! I don't want to be a ninja just because the fox made me great and powerful over night. I want to do it on my own!" Naruto fussed, though not moving about to much as his feet were still sore. For a while the room was silent until Kakashi spoke up.

"I actually know how you feel Naruto."

"Oh? And how could you possibly know how I feel!" Naruto shouted back. Kakashi just calmly reached up and revealed his sharingan eye.

"Because I was given a huge boost to my skill from a friend, hell I'm famous as 'The Copy Nin Kakashi' because of this eye." Naruto lost some of his anger as Kakashi went on talking. "There was actually a period where I wanted to get rid of the eye so that people would acknowledge my skill and not just what I could do with the eye. I came so close to cutting the eye out, I had the kunai in my hand and poised to strike." Tsunade and Shizune were both silent and instead let Kakashi tell his tale.

"Why didn't you?" Naruto asked, too intrigued by the story to stop himself.

"Because it was just an eye. I may have gotten it from a friend but it was just an eye. The eye didn't do anything unless I used it. So I decided to own it, made it my own and became famous for using it so well. Just because the fox has given you the potential doesn't mean he is going to take all the credit for it, he just opened up a door. What you do with it all depends on you."

The sound of something falling to the floor caught every one's attention. Looking down they all saw that a pile of ash and charcoal lay on the floor. Looking back up they saw that Naruto's foot was now fully healed with a brand new layer of skin where the once burnt layer had been.

"Damn, the fox does some good work." Naruto said as he pulled his feet up to examine the new skin. It looked and felt just like the old skin, however when he hit it and didn't even feel a hint of pain he knew there was a difference. Letting his feet fall back off the bed he sat up and looked around the room for the first time. "Oi, where did Sakura-chan go?" Naruto caught the nervous look on Shizune's face and the way Kakashi and Tsunade both looked elsewhere and the blonde boy just sighed. "She wanted to know about the fox and got mad when you didn't tell her didn't she?" He didn't need an answer as the guilty looks on their faces gave them away. "Alright, well I'm gonna go walk around for a bit. See ya."

With that said the blonde boy slowly meandered out of the hospital room. The three were silent for a moment before Tsunade cursed under her breath.

"I forgot to warn the brat about his chakra reserves."

"What do you mean Lady Tsunade" Shizune asked to which Tsunade sighed and faced her.

"The fox was doing more than just healing the kid's feet, it was also working to increase his chakra reserves so that the new move doesn't wear him out so quickly."

"Why would you need to warn Naruto-kun about that?" Shizune asked, puzzled by her mentor's worried look.

"Well, ordinarily you wouldn't. He is a growing kid so his chakra reserves are going to grow one way or another. But at the alarming rate in which his reserves are growing right now it is going to be a bit troublesome for him to control, by tomorrow his chakra reserves will have doubled." Kakakashi and Shizune both paled at the implications of such a growth in Naruto's already monumental chakra reserves. "The day after that they will have tripled from what they are now. Beyond that I can't tell how much further his reserves will grow. All depends on whether the fox stops or not."

"I'm gonna have to help him relearn how to control his chakra aren't I?" Kakashi asked to which Tsunade nodded.

"I'd have the hermit do it but I can't get in touch with him for some reason. We will just have to handle any changes on our own till he get's back to take a look at the gaki."

88888

Naruto walked aimlessly through the village, no longer getting looks of disdain wherever he walked. He was not exactly welcomed with open arms by everyone but compared to the attitude the village had shown him in his younger years it was a huge change. Though at the moment none of that mattered. At the moment all that was on the young blonde's mind was whether or not he should use the gift the fox had given him.

He understood what Kakashi was trying to tell him but it still left a sour taste in his mouth to use something given to him by the creature that had caused so much grief in his life. The Kyuubi no Kitsune, beast of monstrous power whose very name still struck fear into the hearts of many in the Leaf Village. It had attacked the village fourteen years ago, killing off thousands of Leaf nin who had died trying to prevent the beast from reaching the village. It had taken the life of the Forth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, to seal the beast away and stop it's devastating assault on the village.

But would it be worse to let the power of the fox go to waste? Having grown up on the streets Naruto knew better than most how important it was to use every little thing you could to stay ahead of the world. Whether it be smarts, power or friends in high places whatever worked you used to survive. Naruto no longer needed to survive though. He was a ninja, and becoming a stronger ninja every day. Already he had passed all the kids in his class aside from Sasuke, even the genin a year older than him were about at his level. So the question was did he want to grow stronger on his own, ignoring the power the Kyuubi had given him? Or did he take what the fox had given him and use it as his own?

"Hunny come away from him, you can talk to him later!" A mom called out to her child pulling Naruto out of his thoughts. Looking around he saw that the normally crowded streets were pushed up against the side of the streets with a huge gap in between him and them. The child was the only one close to him while the mother stood back in the safety of the crowds calling her little girl back to her. But why were they all keeping their distance? Seeing a tiny flicker of blue at the edge of his vision Naruto looked down to see that he had chakra swirling around, the chakra reaching up to his midsection.

Blinking in shock Naruto just stared in wonder at the chakra for a moment before shaking his head to get his mind back on track. Smiling over at the mother he chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that, was lost in thought on the road of life." He said to the mom before closing his eyes and reeling the chakra back into his system. Despite his chakra usually being difficult to control reigning in his chakra at the moment was proving to be extraordinarily hard, it took a good minute for Naruto to pull all his chakra back into his system and when that was done he felt overloaded. It was a feeling akin to how he felt after eating too much only this time it was from pulling in too much chakra. "What the heck is this?" Naruto had to walk slowly and keep his attention focused on his chakra just to prevent it from leaking back out again.

Seeing a familiar shop nearby the blonde boy grinned and made his way over to it.

8888

Ino sighed. She was bored. It had been a rather slow day at the flower shop so she had reorganized the flower arrangements on the counter twice, swept the floors three times and checked all the flowers to ensure they didn't need water. All within the last hour. So needless to say she was bored out of her mind.

In the back of her mind she was aware that a huge chakra signature was slowly getting closer to the shop. Living in a ninja village however, she had grown accustomed to having large chakra signature moving about frequently so she paid it no attention. At least not until the chakra signature popped into her shop revealing that it was Naruto.

"Naruto?" Ino said in a bit of shock. She could tell that he was the chakra signature she had felt a moment ago but to think that it had been him was mind blowing.

"Oh hey Ino! Say is your mom in?"

"My mom? Umm I think so, why?"

"Cause, I was wondering if I could come work out in the garden again. I haven't done any gardening in a while and since I have the day off I was hoping she might let me help out around the place again." Naruto asked.

"Uh, I'll go ask." Ino asked quickly leaving not knowing how to handle her fellow blonde's odd question.

Naruto watched Ino dash off into the back and shrugged. Turning he inspected the different flowers in the room, admiring the care in which they were given. Hearing the door to the back room open up once again he turned around to see Izumi Yamanaka walk in with Ino following closely behind her.

"Why little Naru-chan, we haven't seen you in so long! What brings you by?"

"Hey Mrs Yamanaka, I have the day off and have missed gardening so you think I could help out with the flowers again?"

"Sure! My husband has been busy with interrogation lately and hasn't had time to tend to the garden so it might be a bit of a mess." Izumi warned only to watch as Naruto waved it off with a grin.

"Ah no problem, I have all day so that's fine by me!" Both mother and daughter saw as a flicker of worry flashed across his expressive blue eyes. "Though you guys don't mind if I let my chakra out a bit do you?"

"Not at all." Izumi said before Ino could even question the blonde's statement.

"Thanks." Naruto breathed out before he visibly relaxed and chakra began to seep out of his body. The only places it was visibly flowing out were his finger tips and feet where thin wisps of chakra exited and then twirled upwards giving him an unearthly appearance. "Ah that's so much better. Well then I'm gonna head into the back. See ya Mrs. Yamanaka!" And with that Naruto walked out the side door and into the back garden where the Yamanaka's grew their flowers.

Ino watched the boy walk into the back before she rounded on her mother.

"Okay what just happened?"

"Why Naru-chan wanted to work in the garden and I let him."

"I know that! But why did he want to work here? And how do you two know each other so well?" Ino demanded. Instead of answering her mother just tapped a finer against her lips.

"I wonder. You should ask him. He is far better at telling stories than I am." Turning and beginning to walk back through the door that connected the flower shop to the house Izumi called out over her shoulder, "See ya dear I'm going to go prepare dinner."

"Mom!" Ino shouted only to get no response. Huffing in annoyance she looked around the shop. Seeing no one in there and no one walking in Ino flipped the sign from 'open' to 'closed' before locking the door and walking out into the garden. Where she came across an interesting sight.

There in her garden was the hyperactive number one knuckle headed ninja in Konoha, calmly and methodically tending to flowers. He was even talking to them as he pruned them and watered them as if they were his closest set of friends. Ino almost wanted to walk out to avoid interrupting whatever it was that was going on but Naruto must have caught her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh hey Ino." He said, though it was said in a far calmer and more subdued tone than normal.

"Hey. Can you please tell me how you and my mom know one another and why you want to work here? Cause my mom isn't saying anything." Ino asked to which Naruto chuckled and nodded his head.

"Figured you would want to know. Short version of it was that I ducked in here while avoiding ANBU after I pulled a prank on them and your mom agreed to hide me on the condition that I helped her with the garden since your dad was on a long term mission. I said yes and kind of fell in love with the garden so every once in a while I come back and help out."

Ino palmed her forehead.

"What prank did you pull? Was it as bad as painting the hokage monument?" She asked almost fearing the answer.

"Heheh depends on who you ask. According to the ANBU it was worse, according to me it was better cause it was much harder." Naruto said as a foxy grin spread across his features at the memory. Hearing Ino move he turned to see her picking up a pair of pruning scissors before working on the flowers next to the ones he was working on.

"I'm just gonna regret saying this, but please do explain what you did that had the ANBU chasing you across the village." Ino said. She saw the foxy grin on his face grow even more before he launched into the story of how he covered the ANBU mask in sneezing powder.

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Inoichi sighed as he approached his family flower shop. The guy down in interrogation had mental defenses like nothing Inoichi had ever seen. Getting through the outer layer of defenses had taken a good portion of last week to get through alone, and then when they had pulled out to take a break all the defenses had come back. So now they were working in shifts so someone was constantly working to go though his mind, both keeping down defenses they had gotten through and working to drop new defenses. Only at Ibiki's order had Inoichi left for the day.

Shaking his mind of the depressing thoughts he pushed on the door only to find it locked. Confused he peered in through the window and saw that no one was in the story. Or more importantly he saw that his daughter was _not_ in the shop doing her duties. He turned around and opened his senses up to try and find her only to realize she was behind the shop, as was another chakra signature that was easily twice the size of Inoichi's own.

Since it was his own building he leapt up and over the building to land on the roof's edge looking down into the garden behind the shop. What he saw both calmed him and disturbed him. Ino and a blonde haired boy Inoichi was overly familiar with were working on the garden side by side. Ino was laughing at some joke or something Naruto had said while Naruto looked like he was simply enjoying the company. Listening in on their conversation he couldn't help but grin. Naruto was regaling her with some of his more amusing stories and Inoichi couldn't help but admit even he found the story funny.

Leaping down he landed in the garden by the wall without either of the genin hearing him. He stood there and listened in a bit longer until finally the story of Naruto super glueing the doors inside the Hokage's office shut got the blonde adult to laugh. Both teens immediately turned to look at him.

"Daddy! When did you get here?"

"A moment or two ago. Now are you bothering this young lad while he tries to work? Cause I know you can talk anyone's ears off."

"Daddy!" Ino shouted only to spin around and glare at Naruto when burst out laughing. "Fine! See if I help you out again!" With a huff the blonde girl stormed out leaving both Naruto and Inoichi laughing. The adult was about to go in when Naruto called out to him stopping him.

"Oi! Mister Yamanaka, could I ask for a favor?"

"What sort of favor?" Inoichi asked suspiciously.

"Well you see... I er..." Naruto stumbled for a bit before taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves. "I need to talk to _it_. And you probing my mind is the only way short of my jumping off a cliff I can think of."

Immediately Inoichi's eyes narrowed further.

"Why do you need to talk to _it_." Inoichi asked, it wasn't that he didn't trust the blonde genin but you weren't involved in Konoha politics for long if you didn't learn to question others motives.

Naruto sighed and let his chakra flow freely instead of holding it back as he had while Ino was around. Instead of the tiny wisps of chakra that had been flowing out of his finger tips he now had a constant stream of chakra pouring out of his hands and feet. It looked almost as if he had twin balls of blue fire enshrouding his hands. The chakra around his feet had started pouring out faster as well, so that he had the appearance of standing on blazing blue balls of fire.

"I need to find out why _it_ suddenly caused this." Naruto said watching as Inoichi had visibly paled at the inhuman amounts of chakra Naruto possessed. Swallowing, the clan head nodded his head.

"Alright, I do believe this is a good reason. Though you are to tell the hokage about this later."

"She already knows about the changes." Naruto said waving his hand dismissively. Inoichi nodded and gestured for Naruto to come over. Once Naruto was standing in front of him Inoichi ran through a quick set of hand seals before placing his palm on Naruto's forehead. A pulse of chakra later and both of the blonde's left the real world far behind them as they dove into Naruto's mind.

**Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto opened his eyes to see Inoichi and himself standing in the sewers that represented his mind.

"You know," Inoichi started. "We really should fix your mindscape up at some point in time."

Naruto just chuckled and shook his head.

"Ya, cause last time my mind was so welcoming to you probing around in it." Naruto said before chuckling darkly as Inoichi shivered at the memory. "Anyways, you mind if I go on and have a nice little chat with Kyuubi on my own?"

"Be my guest. I have no desire to go anywhere near that beast again. Thing nearly destroyed my mind last time I got near the seal."

"Alright then, see ya!" With that said Naruto started to jog down the halls, letting them lead him where they would. He had learned that trying to control them or take specific turns to get to Kyuubi faster would do no good. Kyuubi would show himself when he was ready, no sooner and no later. Sure enough the fox warped the tunnels so that after only two or three turns Naruto was standing in front of the gate. "Evening fox." Naruto said trying to be amicable so as to not start the conversation on the wrong foot.

"**Evening... kit."**Kyuubi replied, Naruto knew the beast had changed its words to try and follow Naruto's lead of acting civilized towards one another. The giant nine tailed fox emerged from the darkness with his snout resting on the floor and his eyes peering out at Naruto through the bars of his cage. **"Am I to assume you are here to whine and bitch about the changes I made to your body?"**

"No. I'm here to ask why you suddenly decided to do it." The fox let out a snort that sent ripples through the water causing it to splash at Naruto's ankles. A dark echoing chuckle came from the fox without the beast even opening its mouth.

"**Why so sudden? Because you are to stupid and oblivious to have noticed it other wise."** Kyuubi said in a mocking tone.

Naruto's fake smile dropped from his face as he scowled at the beast. There went being agreeable with one another.

"You bastard! I would have noticed if you turned me into a friggen chakra tank!" Naruto shouted, unconsciously flaring his chakra at Kyuubi. While the chakra did not visibly manifest inside of Naruto's mind it did cause a subtle change that neither of the two hot heads took notice of. The water in the sewers stopped flowing out of the Kyuubi's cage and at in almost imperceptible rate it began to flow back into the seal. Though not for long. Snarling at the boy's tone Kyuubi stood up and glared down at Naruto while flaring his own crimson red chakra. Were it not for the seal the biju's chakra would have demolished Naruto, with the seal in place however all his chakra did was stop the water from flowing into the seal.

"**You imbecile! You would have noticed that you had an excess of chakra, never in a million years would your pathetic excuse for a mind have managed to figure out _how_ I wanted to use the chakra. You would have continued fighting like a pathetic human using jutsu and the likes instead of truly fighting."**

"Tch." Naruto just crosses his arms over his chest and impassively looked up at the fox. "If your way of fighting is _sooo_ much better then why did Sasuke still manage to win despite me using your chakra?"

"**Sasuke?"** Kyuubi asked and cocked his head to the side for a moment, his eyes going vacant as if he were looking at an entirely different world. Before Naruto could ask what was wrong with the fox Kyuubi's crimson red eyes refocused. Letting out a maniacal laugh Kyuubi nodded his head. **"The Uchiha got away because you reverted back to fighting like a human. When he used that lightning attack you tried to counter with your own jutsu. A typical human technique."**

"Well then what would you suggest I have done instead?" Naruto snapped back, furious the fox might have been able to stop Sasuke but had kept quiet.

Kyuubi grinned and was about to mock Naruto for letting the Uchiha escape when a loud voice echoed through the sewers.

"Daddy! What are you doing!" It was clearly Ino's voice. Hearing a groan from the fox Naruto saw Kyuubi shaking his head.

"**Foolish girl." **Kyuubi mumbled before a wicked grin showing his razor sharp teeth spread across his face.** "Though I should thank her for the pain your about to feel."**

Without a warning or time to respond to Kyuubi's statement Naruto was pulled out of his mind scape and back into the real world in a violent jerk.

**Real World**

"Daddy! What were you doing inside Naruto's mind?" Ino shouted while her father recovered from being brutally yanked out of Naruto's mind. Both Naruto and Inoichi were sprawled out on the ground from Ino slapping Inoichi's hand off Naruto's forehead. Both men were clutching their heads in pain. "If you were doing any sort of thing to harm him..."

Naruto heard her incessant fussing, to him at the moment though it was a deafening roar that only added to the pain coursing through his head.

"Shadder up." He groaned out. Unfortunately his speaking up drew Ino's anger upon himself.

"Don't you tell me to shut up! What were you two doing?" Ino demanded. When neither of the two immediately supplied an answer her over active imagination supplied one instead. "If you were trying to erase me from his mind to stop him from asking me out..."

"Ask you out?" Naruto asked before bursting out laughing, cutting Ino off mid sentence without even trying. "Why would I ever ask your loud ass self out?"

"Excuse me? You would be lucky to be dating me!" Ino shouted.

"Oh please, your far to loud and annoying for my taste." Naruto said, starting to glare back at Ino now that he was standing up. "I mean sure your hot as hell but personality wise your just far to annoying. Or troublesome as Shikamaru would say."

"Annoying?" Ino seethed. "This coming from the class clown that painted the entire hokage monument and shouts "believe it!" or "ramen!" every chance he gets is a joke." Ino said with a smirk, glad to see Naruto was now growling at her.

"Take it back blondie!"  
>"You take it back first whiskers!"<p>

"Not on your life!" The two blondes were now glaring at one another with only an inch or two between them. Inoichi, who had been taking advantage of their little spat, tried to tip toe into the house only for Ino to whirl around the instant he opened the door to the house.

"Oh no you don't! One of you is telling me what was going on!" Both men went still and silent, Naruto's head dropped and the anger left him. Inoichi just cast a somber look at Naruto and watied to see how this would play out.

"Oi Ino do you think you could just let this slide? Just this once?" Naruto pleaded in a defeated tone.

Despite her inquisitive nature and righteous womanly fury Ino saw the miserable look on his face and couldn't bring herself to demand an answer right that moment. But she couldn't just let him go either. Thinking on a moment she grinned to herself and nodded.

"Sure, I think I can let it slide this time whiskers." Ino said, seeing the instant relief that flooded his face she held up a finger causing him to pause him. "On the condition you finish the story of how you got your ass handed to you by a ninja ostrich." She giggled seeing the utterly shocked look on his face, finally his mind must have rebooted cause he shook his head and grinned.

"Fine by me, but such a tale requires food and as such we shall be eating at Ichiraku's tonight. And as I am far under dressed for such an occasion I shall see you later tonight, say seven?" Naruto asked with a foxy grin on his face as he watched her mind process what he had just said. Finally she nodded her head and smiled.

"That sound's about right to me. I will see you then whiskers." And just like that she spun and skipped back into the house.

Naruto nodded to himself at handling the situation so well he was about to walk out the door and get ready for his date when a hand fell on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Inoichi on the ground, tears in his eyes and his hands clasped together in a pleading manner.

"Please! Tell me the secrets to handling women in such a manner!"

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Ino cursed herself for not knowing exactly what sort of outing this was going to be. She didn't know whether to dress up since it was _technically_ a date, or not since he was just taking her to a ramen stand. Finally deciding on just looking nice but not overly so she was just getting finishing up when she heard a knock at the door. A final glance at herself in the mirror out of habit and she skipped down the steps to greet her _date_.

Naruto kicked himself for not being more specific on what type of date it was. Going with his gut instinct he had worn a long sleeve white shirt left unbuttoned with a black muscle shirt underneath, for pants he had replaced the orange jumpsuit with a pair of burnt orange pants. Around his neck the Hokage's necklace hung in plain view for the first time. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door and waited. Before long the door swung open and Naruto couldn't help but be impressed.

Ino stood there in a simple outfit that consisted of a pair of blue jeans that beautifully highlighted the curves of Ino's lowerhalf. The rest of her attire consisted of purple top that stopped just above her chest with two strings going back around her neck to hold it in place.

Seeing the impressed look on Naruto's face Ino grinned and did a little twirl, stopping with her back facing him so she could smirk over her shoulder at him.

"You like?" She teased.

"Uh-huh." Naruto replied lamely, shaking his head a moment later realizing how bad that sounded. Before he could fix it however Ino skipped in front of him and tapped his nose.

"Good, just remember you can look but you can't touch." Ino teased and was pleased to see a blush break out across his face. Giggling and deciding to spare him further torment she stepped back. "Now! Were is this ramen stand your so infatuated with?"

"Right! To Ichiraku's!" Holding his arm out for Ino in a goofy manner the platinum eye blonde girl couldn't help but shake her head at his antics.

"Your insane."

"I know, but all the best ninja are." Naruto replied cheekily before leading the way to Ichiraku's.

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Ayame watched the pair of blonde's eating and shook her head.

_'Neither of them realize how much the other is enjoying this. Naruto-kun, you really are hopeless.'_ Ayame thought to herself as the pair burst out laughing for the umpteenth time that night. The pair had been laughing, telling each other stories and swapping adventures they had gone on since they had become ninja. Although Naruto tended to do most of the talking the way he spoke and acted out his adventures with his hands Ino was never bored listening to his tales. Another thing that Ayame noticed was how even though Naruto was being just as energetic as he usually was there was something about him that wasn't right. It was almost as if he were watching his every move and controlling his actions. But that couldn't be right, Naruto never did that. Right?

Seeing an certain pink haired individual marching towards the stand Ayame retreated further into the stand in order to avoid being caught up in the madness that was sure to start.

"Naruto! There you are!" Sakura called having finally found the blonde boy she had been searching for all day. "I have some questio... Ino?" Her rant had been effectively cut off at seeing Ino Yamanaka sitting in the stool next to Naruto with a mouthful of ramen hanging out of her mouth. "What the hell are you doing here with Naruto-baka? And why are you eating this nasty stuff he calls food?" Sakura shouted.

Ino stood up and defiantly slurped down the ramen hanging from her mouth.

"It is not mere food! It is holy mana sent to us from heaven! How dare ye slander the mighty name of the delicacy that is ramen?" Ino cried out holding her half full bowl of ramen up before downing the rest. Naruto was out of his stool bowing at her feet.

"Truer words have never been spoken!" Naruto chanted for a moment before glancing up at the exact same moment Ino glanced down at him. The two shared a look before both burst out laughing again, wiping a tear from his eye Naruto looked at Ino with a grin on his face. "I told you it was some good stuff."

Ino rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder.

"It's good alright," Ino said as she set her now empty bowl on top of her stack of five bowls. "Though not good enough to eat night and day like you do. Next time we eat at my restaurant." That statement got reactions out of both Sakura and Naruto.

"Next time?" The two remaining members of team seven asked at the same time. Naruto had said it in a bit of shock though there was plenty of hope evident in his voice. Sakura on the other hand said it in a meek tone filled with horror as realization started to dawn on her. Ino just nodded to herself.

"Ya next time. Or do you not want to go out with me again?" She asked with a warning tone in her voice.

Now Naruto was not the sharpest kunai in the holster but even he knew that when a pretty girl asked if you wanted to go out with her again the proper response was an immediate and enthusiastic yes. And so doing just that Naruto nodded his head up and down in a similar manner to a certain spandex wearing, genin with a hideous bowl cut hairdo they both knew.

"But of course I do!"

"Good." Ino said before patting his head. "Now, time for me to head home before daddy starts to worry. And then I really will have to save you from him wiping your memory. You gonna walk me home?"

Again Naruto did the smart thing and paid the tab before standing up and offering Ino his arm once again.

"Home it is then!" Ino slid her arm around his, this time not shaking her head and instead just waving over her shoulder to Sakura who was just standing there watching the two in horror.

"See ya forehead!" Ino called out. Sakura for her part barely managed to wave.

"Bye." She mumbled before turning and walking off in the opposite direction, looking for the portal back into her own dimension which made far more sense then this new twisted reality she had found herself in.

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Naruto watched Ino enter her house before turning and walking away, a massive grin on his face. As he walked away he finally relinquished the tight hold he had been keeping on his chakra the entire night with a sigh. As soon as he did the blue chakra started to trickle out of his finger tips and feet again. It had been a fun night but it had begun to wear on him having to keep his chakra in check the entire time. Before he got to close to his house a thought struck him.

_'Why go home and sleep? I'm not tired at all so why not go train some more? If I get my chakra under control then I won't have to worry about it, next time.'_ The words next time sent an electric charge through his system at the thought that Ino wanted to go out with him. Goofy grin back in place on his face he took to the roof tops with training ground seven as his destination.


	2. First Blood

**cody-d-fox: Sorry Man this is the only story I'll be adopting from Demons Wings.**

**Anyways sorry about the horrid updating speed but I plan to pick up the slack this summer so expect another update soon. Enjoy  
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**Impure Perfection  
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* * *

><p><strong>Bloodied Blade<strong>

"The nerve of those two, especially Naruto!" Sakura fumed to herself as she more or less stomped towards the training grounds to meet up with her team. "He was in the hospital one minute, and on a date with Ino the next? That makes no sense! And what was with Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-sensei and Shizune? They were keeping something from me about Naruto but what could it be?" Continuing on with her rant Sakura was so engrossed in attempting to figure out the puzzle set before that she didn't notice the man standing in front of her.

When she collided with him she mumbled a quick "sorry" and went on with her way without seeing who it was she had bumped into.

"Good morning to you too Sakura." Kakashi greeted with his signature eye smile. The eye smile dropped away and Kakashi's mood deflated a bit when he saw Sakura had ignored him entirely and was still fuming. "Or not." Silently following the pink haired tempest to the training ground the pair of them made it to Training Ground 7 a short time later.

In the middle of the training ground as always was the same tree Naruto had been suspended from during the bell test. When Sakura and Kakashi arrived at the training ground this morning they found Naruto once again suspended from a limb, this time however he was hanging upside down from the limb using chakra to stay attached. His eyes were shut tight in concentration and his hands were forming the ram seal to boost his relatively poor chakra control.

Sakura took no notice of his attempts to stay focused.

"Naruto-baka! Get down here!" The pinkette shouted up at her teammate.

The sudden shout threw Naruto's concentration off and his eyes popped open as he struggled to stay attached to the tree, his arms waving about to maintain balance as he mentally adjusted his chakra flow. After a second or two he got it back under control and grinned down at his teammate and sensei.

"Oh hey guys. I finally got the tree walking thing back under control!"

Both Sakura and Kakashi were confused at that.

"'Back under control'? Did you forget it or something?" Sakura asked perplexed, her anger forgotten and replaced with curiosity.

"Well..." Naruto started before detaching himself from the tree limb, letting go with his right foot a millisecond before his left so that as he fell through the air he rotated in order to fall feet first. Once he was falling feet first he spread his arms out and fell regularly for a moment before flooding chakra out of his feet and hands slowing his descent to a crawl. The blonde boy landed without so much as a sound as if he were some sort of phantasm come to life. "After my chakra reserves practically doubled yesterday I had to relearn how to control it." Lifting his hand up to show it to his teammates revealed he still had chakra streaming out and upwards from his finger tips. "Sadly I still need some work."

"Your...chakra reserves...doubled?" Sakura asked feebly, her mind going numb trying to wrap itself around exactly how much chakra he had. Before he had already possessed more chakra than either Sasuke or Kakashi, if his reserves had doubled then just how much did he have? Shaking her head Sakura glared at Naruto. "Your lying, you can't just make your reserves double over night! If you could do that then everyone would be doing it so they could match your freakish stamina."

Naruto scowled at being called freakish, even if it was in passing.

"Oh yeah? Then explain this?" The blonde shouted as he turned away from Sakura and Kakashi before cocking his fist back and charging it full of chakra.

Sakura visibly choked on the amount of the inhuman amounts of chakra Naruto had amassed in the span of a second. Kakashi was less affected by it but was still reeling at the fact his student could conjure up this much chakra as if it were nothing. The silver haired jonin was half tempted to open his sharingan for a split second to see just how much chakra was concentrated in Naruto's fist.

However Kakashi didn't have the time to act on that desire as Naruto decided at that moment to thrust his fist outwards as if he had punched somebody. Normally that would have no affect and he would just look like a crazy person. This time his idea worked perfectly and very visibly.

While Naruto's fist came to a halt at the end of his punch the chakra he had built up did not. Instead it was launched like a cannon and flew towards a nearby tree Naruto had been aiming at. The only indication Naruto's stunt had actually worked was the massive trench being dug by the mass of chakra as it moved through the air, the trench began about three feet away from where Naruto was standing and was a good two feet wide. When the trench ended at the base of the tree the full brunt of the attack was made visibly by the tree itself being reduced to splinters as the trunk of the tree was blown out the back of the tree. Without the support the tree itself came down not long after the trunk was demolished by Naruto's impromptu attack.

"Ha! Told you my chakra reserves had grown." Naruto shouted triumphantly.

Sakura was just staring at the remains of the tree in shock.

Kakashi on the other hand walked around Sakura and nodded.

"Very impressive. And you learned that one..." Kakashi left it out there for Naruto to finish.

The blonde's head dropped and his happy mood diminished a bit.

"Same as the first, I used it on Sasuke in our fight."

That snapped Sakura out of her stupor.

"Hold up, you used that on Sasuke-kun? But that could have killed him! Were you tryi..." Sakura's rant was cut off by Kakashi placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura, think. If Naruto was using an attack like that against Sasuke and still lost then image just how heavily Sasuke must have been relying on the curse mark in order to withstand a beating like that. No normal human body could take a beating like that and live."

Sakura was silent, not because she agreed but because she was thinking it over from an entirely different point of view than her sensei intended.

Unaware of his female student's thought process Kakashi turned back to face Naruto.

"Alright Naruto, well then what say you and I spar again. Give you a chance to practice that new style of movement out. Though using that attack is strictly forbidden, Sasuke might have lived through it but I can assure you I would not. Understood?"

"Got it sensei! And I've been working on this all night actually so I think I've gotten a bit better at turning." Naruto cheered as he relaxed and allowed the chakra to pour out of his feet once more, it still took a great deal of concentration to get the initial launch off the ground but it didn't take near as long.

"Great, cause it was _so_ easy to dodge last time." Kakashi drawled out sarcastically as he pulled up his headband to reveal his sharingan once more. Seeing Sakura had not moved Kakashi tilted his head so he could look at her out the corner of his eye. "You need to move to the side lines Sakura, until Naruto gets the hang of this its still considered experimental and should only be used with or around me." The pinkette nodded and moved off the field of play. Facing Naruto once more Kakashi drew out two kunai, once in each hand held in a reverse grip. "Ready when you are Naruto."

Naruto gave a foxy grin.

"If you say so, just try and touch me!" Naruto taunted before blasting forwards in a surge of chakra. When he approached Kakashi from the left Naruto lashed out with a right kick aimed at Kakashi's midriff fueled by his momentum.

Kakashi reacted by moving back and to the right while simultaneously redirecting Naruto's kick further upwards in hopes of pulling the blonde off the ground and slowing him down. However to his disappointment Naruto merely went with it and spun in the air, the instant his right foot came full circle and once more was close enough to the ground Naruto shot away from Kakashi making a giant arc around the training field. As the blonde and orange blur moved across the ground Naruto hurled several kunai at Kakashi only to miss horribly, not even coming within fifty feet of Kakashi.

_'With as fast as he is moving he can't aim properly.'_ Kakashi thought as he watched the kunai zip by, risking a glance he followed one kunai till it impacted with a tree. The sharingan user paled as the kunai was moving so fast that it didn't stop when it it the tree it actually passed clear through the tree and out the other side only to embed itself in a rock until only the hilt was still standing out. _'And I'm glad he can't.'_ Turning his attention back to Naruto Kakashi watched as the blonde slowed, Naruto was still gliding across the ground but now at a speed the human eye could easily follow.

"Note to self, work on my aim." Naruto said with a grin, he may have been upset his aim was horrid but the feel of moving so fast was still too exhilarating to let something little like that ruin his mood. "Ah well just means more training." And with that the blonde unleashed his chakra and was once more a blur of movement. This time he charged Kakashi in a zig zag manner hoping to catch the jonin off guard. It half worked in that Kakashi couldn't predict which side the attack would come from, but the jonin was still able to react in time to avoid the initial attack. However instead of darting away as he had before Naruto stayed close to Kakashi and once again created a cyclone of dust around his sensei. Not wishing to repeat the beating of yesterday Kakashi leapt far up into the air and came to rest in a tree on the border of the forest. Naruto watched and saw where his sensei had landed. Instead of dashing over to the tree Naruto slowed down and crouched, still gliding, before launching himself at Kakashi head first. _'Ah shit!'_ Kakashi thought as he fell backwards in order to avoid the blonde projectile, sticking to the tree with chakra Kakashi watched as Naruto grabbed onto the trunk of a tree and swung around it to stand on the side of the tree facing Kakashi. Naruto was only stationary for a moment before he launched himself back at Kakashi.

For a good twenty, thirty minutes Kakashi and Naruto played a sort of improvised version of tag meets pinball. Kakashi would dip, duck, dive and roll out of the way of Naruto while the blonde boy shot back and forth from tree to tree in hopes of capturing his prey. After the first few close calls Kakashi had begun to rely on using multiple short range shushins in order to keep up with Naruto. Adding in his sharingan, jonin reflexes and the expert use of the shushin Kakashi had managed to level the playing field to the point that he was actually beginning to throw in his own attack every great once in a while. Sadly for Kakashi his reserves couldn't hold out near as long as Naruto's could meaning the silver haired jonin had to come up with a end game move, and fast.

From Sakura's point of view all she saw was Kakashi more or less teleporting from place to place so fast it hurt her eyes to try and follow. Naruto was altogether impossible to follow. The few times Naruto did pause to locate where Kakashi had hidden Sakura saw nothing more than a brief glimpse of orange and blonde. Anything beyond that was just an imperceptible blur she only saw after images of.

_'He is getting faster, and not pausing near as long.'_ Kakashi thought sourly after receiving yet another cut from the two kunai's Naruto had taken out at some point during the spar. None of the cuts were serious but they were beginning to sting bad enough to limit Kakashi's movements and that was leading to more cuts and more serious wounds. _'Alright enough of this.'_ Mind made up Kakashi dropped his jonin level set of skills and picked up his old ANBU set. _'Welcome to the big leagues Naruto.'_

Naruto felt the difference immediately. He had been keeping up with Kakashi for most of the fight however whatever had changed it flipped the tide of the battle around. Naruto was no longer able to keep up with Kakashi's level of movement, much less attack him. The only way Naruto was able to even cope with the change in Kakashi's battle strategy was to try and follow the sensations left behind from whatever the heck Kakashi was doing.

Grinning at watching Naruto struggle to keep up Kakashi continued to lead Naruto into the trap he had set. Using the second stage shushin his sensei had taught him Kakashi had managed to create and substitute himself with a shadow clone so fast not even Naruto could follow it. Allowing the clone to distract and lead Naruto into the exact position Kakashi prepared his jutsu and waited for the perfect time.

Seeing Kakashi pause to catch his breath Naruto grinned and launched himself at the stationary jonin as fast as possible. The sensation of his skin stinging from intense heat alerted Naruto to the fact he had just fallen into a trap. Looking to his left the blonde saw a massive ball of flames hurdling towards him. Following his instincts and memories of what happened in his fight with Sasuke Naruto cocked his head back and roared, channeling as much chakra as he could muster through his throat to power the roar. The force behind the roar tore through the fire ball wiping it out of existence and plowing straight through to the bewildered Kakashi. The shock wave still had enough power behind it after plowing through the fire ball to lift Kakashi up off his feet and throw him through the woods until he collided with a tree, even then it kept him crushed up against the tree for a minute or two before dissipating.

After a second or two Kakashi's head stopped reeling from the blow and he was able to stand up, it took a few more seconds before he could see clearly. Even then he was having difficulty hearing anything other than the deafening ringing in his ears. But that was something that would fade, judging on the shouts of pain coming from Naruto that shock wave had had adverse affects on the blonde. Flashing to Naruto's side Kakashi crouched down see the blonde writhing on the ground clutching his throat making gasping sounds.

"Sakura, head to the hospital. I'm taking Naruto on ahead." Kakashi said as he sensed the pink haired girl approaching. Without a second word Kakashi shushined both him and Naruto to the hospital, once again.

Sakura stared numbly at the space her remaining teammate and sensei had been moments before. It was happening again. They were leaving her out, excluding her and keeping secrets from her. Ignoring her. Forgetting to bring her. It was just like it had been when Sasuke had first gotten the curse seal. Kakashi had vanished with him and she had no idea why other than that Naruto was hurting.

Stifling a tear Sakura began to trudge her way to the hospital. Her mind already made up.

8888

Kakashi appeared in the lobby and quickly glanced around looking for a trustworthy doctor to tend to Naruto.

"Kakashi?" Tsunade asked startling Kakashi as she came up from behind him. Truth be told he had startled her first by appearing so suddenly, she hadn't even sensed the type of shushin Kakashi had just used.

Spinning around, still holding Naruto in his arms Kakashi eye smiled.

"Hehe funny story..."

"Save it." Tsunade snapped. "Follow me." She ordered, already walking down the halls. "What did you and the gaki do this time?"

Kakashi fell into step behind her as the walked down the halls.

"We were sparing trying to let him get a hold on his new style, I used a fire jutsu and Naruto...roared at it blowing it and me away."

They made it to a vacant room where Kakashi set Naruto unconscious. Tsunade tapped the blonde on the forehead rendering Naruto mercifully unconscious and no longer in pain. Hands glowing green Tsunade started to examine Naruto's throat since that had been the area he had been clutching.

"He roared?" She questioned as she spun around the room, grabbing a bowl of water and setting it on a table near Naruto's bedside. Using her medical jutsu she lifted a ball of water out of the bowl and slid it down Naruto's throat. She was going to use the water to clear out all the burnt flesh as Kyuubi healed Naruto's windpipe and the dead skin flaked off.

"As in he roared. He just reared back and blew my fireball out like it was nothing, the shock wave still had enough power to slam me into a tree." Kakashi said, disbelief over what he had seen was still evident in his voice. "And what you said about his chakra reserves increasing was accurate, he now has too much chakra to even know what to do with. When he is at full or even partially full his chakra teems out of his system around his fingers and his feet."

Tsunade just shook her head and sighed, not knowing what to say and instead focusing on aiding the Kyuubi however she could. After ten minutes or so the slug sanin removed the ball of water, which was now tainted black from the ash it had absorbed from Naruto's windpipe, and let it fall into the sink. Picking up another ball of chakra and sliding it down Naruto's throat Tsunade began the process again.

"Well, at least the fox has finally decided to take some pride in Naruto's capabilities. It was beginning to look like we would be the only village with a jinchuuriki that had no unique capabilities." Seeing Kakashi's mood shift from slightly worried to concerned and serious Tsunade chuckled. "Don't worry no one was going to cause a fuss over it, but people were beginning to point out the irony in the fact that despite him containing the strongest biju he had no noticeable abilities. Aside from his inhuman chakra reserves, and those are found in all jinchuuriki not just him. And while I understand his desire to get stronger on his own two feet if he is going to stand against the others he is going to need a boost from the fox."

Kakashi nodded his head slowly and relaxed once more, trying to hide the spasm of pain he felt. His back was sore from being slammed against the tree and his arms were still sore from yesterday's spar. Despite the pain he tried his hardest to hide it.

He failed.

"Kakashi, what is wrong with your back?"

The jonin froze.

"Nothing is wrong with my back Hokage-sama, why?" Kakashi asked, hoping she would buy his lie.

She didn't. Tsunade was just about to press the matter when the door to the room was opened and in walked Sakura. The pinkette walked in and took a seat next to Kakashi, her head hung low so neither could see her face.

"What is wrong with Naruto?" Sakura asked in controlled tone.

Kakashi and Tsunade shared a glance with one another, Kakashi's stare making it clear whose duty he thought it was to tell the girl.

Tsunade scowled at Kakashi but understood why he deferred to her on this matter. She was the hokage, whether or not Sakura was allowed to find out about the Kyuubi or not was Tsunade's choice alone since Naruto was out of commission at the moment. Sighing Tsunade pulled the water from Naruto's throat again, this time the water was only a murky grey.

"The gaki burnt his windpipe by overdoing the amount of chakra he channeled through his throat. Most people would only have a slight ache from over doing it, at worst they might sear the top layer of skin but Naruto went above and beyond that truly burning his throat. I'm healing him and removing the ash as I do so."

"And why is it he is able to go further than the other?"

"Because he has a larger chakra pool than almost anyone else."

"Why?" Sakura fired back as soon as Tsunade answered. Tsunade's response didn't come as fast. "Why is it he has such ungodly amounts of chakra? Why does he heal so much faster than most? Why can he take a beating better than anyone else?" The questions just poured out of her until she reached the real question that had plagued her mind. "Why?" Looking up with tears in her eyes she silently pleaded with Tsunade. "Why am I left out of it all? Sasuke-kun left me, now Naruto and you guys are leaving me. Why?"

Both Kakashi and Tsunade winced but neither would yield the info the pinkette was asking for so badly. They had been through war and knew the value of information.

However it wasn't one of them that answered Sakura's question.

"Can't you just let it slide Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his tone as begging as Sakura's had been. "I'm not tainted by a curse mark, I'm not any different than I have been before I just got more chakra. That just..."

"But how did you get it?" Sakura shouted at her remaining teammate. "People's chakra doesn't just double over night! That's inhuman, it would tear the average person's chakra coils to bits if they underwent such a growth in a single night. So then _why_ can you do it and not even be bothered by the change? And there is a reason, because all of you are hiding it from me and I hate it!"

The room dead silent for a few seconds until Naruto let out a ragged breath.

"Because I just can. I was born this way Sakura-chan, Sasuke had his sharingan, the other clans have their tricks this is just a part of who I am." Naruto finally responded, surprising and impressing Kakashi and Tsunade by how close he came to the truth without actually saying what it was. However the blonde continued and what he said next shocked all in the room. "If you can't accept that this is just a part of me then leave the team." Sakura's jaw fell open. "Ba-chan is the hokage she can move you to another team, take you off the active ninja list or something but you won't have to _suffer_ my presence any more."

Tears rimmed Sakura's jade green eyes. This was Naruto? Where had the blonde goof that adored her and thought the earth she walked on was sacred ground go? Who was this person? Naruto wouldn't cast her aside. Or was this secret really so precious to him that she no longer mattered if it endangered his little secret? Eyes narrowing in anger at having figured it out Sakura stood up and glared at him.

"Fine! Keep your stupid little secret, be all by yourself like you were in the academy." Turning away from Naruto Sakura faced Tsunade. "Hokage-sama I ask to be removed from Team Seven and be relocated to some other field of work."

Tsunade looked from one genin to the other, bewildered at how things could have gone this wrong this fast and shook her head.

"All ninja have the right to resign from active duty during peace time so I cannot forbid this, just know it might take some time to find a different position to put you in."

"Fine, just get me off this monstrous team." Sakura spat, not even knowing how deeply her words cut Naruto.

"I'll have Shizune start the paperwork for me when I finish here. However as you are officially off this team now you need to leave."

"Fine." Sakura answered and without a second glance she walked out of the room in a brisk step trying to get out of there before tears could fall.

The white room was silent as a tomb. None of the occupants of the room wanted to be the first to comment on the series of events that had just happened. Finally Naruto broke the silence by coughing, a tiny puff of black ash came out in one violent cough. And that was all, signaling that the fox had finished it's work. Reaching up and rubbing his throat Naruto chuckled humorlessly.

"Well at least the fox does good work. So Ba-chan, you got a mission for us I'm hoping? Getting out of the village for a day or two would be nice right about now."

Tsunade sighed and reached into one of the many pockets on her green robe. To Naruto who was simply gazing up at the ceiling the scroll was nothing new, to Kakashi however the scroll meant a great deal. The only indication that this mission would be different is the fact that there was a tiny red ribbon sticking out of one end of the scroll, a sign to any ninja who knew what it meant. Tossing the scroll to Naruto Tsunade watched as the blonde boy caught it on reflex alone.

Pulling the scroll open and glancing over it, not noticing the red ribbon, Naruto grunted in affirmation.

"Hunt down and take care of a gang of bandits terrorizing the northern border? Sounds easy enough, can we still take it with it just being me and Kakashi-sensei?"

"Normally? No. However since Team Seven has been operating without a fourth member for a month or two now I see no reason why you can't go on one more mission. This will just be the last mission you and Kakashi do as Team Seven, after this Team Seven will be formerly dissolved and both of you will be reassigned."

"To the same team?" Naruto asked, a hint of doubt and fear in his voice.

"More than likely not." Tsunade said shaking her head slowly. "More than likely you will be bounced from team to team until you reach chunin level, Kakashi on the other hand will have a bit more of a choice in what he does as he is a jonin. He could return to ANBU, free lance and do solo missions or maybe even take another team."

"No, that last one won't be an option Tsunade-sama. After Team Seven taking another team is out of the question for a long time, if ever." Kakashi said standing up, being sure to move slow so he didn't have a spasm of pain he couldn't hide. "Now what say you to meeting me at the gate in an hour Naruto?"

"Sure Kaka-sensei, see ya there." Naruto responded, his voice still missing the energetic buzz it used to have.

Naruto and Kakashi both left, one through use of a shushin the other through a chakra enhanced jump out the window. Tsunade was left standing in an empty room with a nasty feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach.

"I need sake, and I need it now."

8888

Naruto was strolling mindlessly through the village, hopefully towards the gate, but his mind was just too far gone to really focus on the task of getting to the gate. He had packed already now he was just running on auto pilot letting his mind roam free. His mind was occupied with the task of trying to wrap itself around the idea of no longer being on Team Seven. No more Kakashi. No more Sakura. No more... anyone. Once again Naruto found himself with no ties to anyone or anything smaller than just the village he was in. He had dozens of friends but none of them were like what he had with Team Seven, they weren't family and that was the one thing he was going to miss most about the team.

It had hurt to tell Sakura to leave the team, but it had hurt worse to know he was torturing her with his secret.

Shaking his head and sighing Naruto was about to use a pulse of chakra to launch himself up and over the building when he heard a cheery and familiar voice call out to him.

"Oi, Naruto!" Ino shouted, Choji and Shikamaru tagging along behind her. "You headed out on a mission?" The blonde girl asked once she was closer to Naruto.

"Ya, me and Kaka-sensei got a mission up north tracking bandits."

"Lucky." Ino scoffed, glaring at Shikamaru out the corner of her eye. "This lazy ass just informed me that since he is chunin he no longer will be doing missions with our team. Meaning my team can't go on any real missions until Tsunade-sama gives us a new teammate. And I need money to buy a new dress!" She was now shouting at Shikamaru.

"Troublesome woman, just get the money from your dad or something."

"Ya, your dad loves you Ino I'm sure he would get you that dress." Choji chimed in, accidentally drawing Ino's temper on himself.

"I am a grown girl! I don't need my daddy to buy me stuff any more! If I could just go on missions I'd get the dress myself."

"If your a grown girl then why are you still living at home?" Naruto asked, a foxy smirk already on his face when Ino rounded on him. Seeing the fire in her sapphire eyes and knowing he was fixing to be pummeled Naruto gave a quick salute. "Oh look at the time, gotta go. Bye Ino-chan!" Bending his legs just a hair and pushing off with a surge of chakra Naruto shot up and out of sight leaving behind a bewildered trio of clan heirs.

"How much chakra did he just use?" Ino finally asked.

Seeing and sensing the incoming ninja that Naruto's stunt had attracted Shikamaru sighed.

"A troublesome amount."

8888

Naruto was still grinning when he landed at the gate, he was a few minutes late but he was sure Kakashi wouldn't mind. Looking about he saw the silver haired jonin leaning up against the village wall reading his usual orange book.

"Yo! Kaka-sensei, you ready?"

"Yep." Kakashi replied as he shoved off the wall. Taking in Naruto's appearance and noticing that the blonde's mood had improved Kakashi couldn't help but grin beneath his mask. "Bump into someone friendly I take it?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Naruto instantly responded, backing away from his sensei and trying to get rid of the goofy grin on his face by scowling.

"Must have been a pretty little blonde lady to put you in such a good mood so quickly, just know that rose gardens are a really romantic place to kiss a girl." A perverted giggle followed. "Or do other things with."

Naruto stared at Kakashi abject horror for a second as the blonde's mind was thrown into the gutter. Shaking his head to pull it back out Naruto glared at his sensei.

"Kakashi!" Naruto shouted flaring his chakra.

"Time to go!" With that Kakashi dashed out the gate, thankful he had planned ahead and already signed the both of them out of the village. Feeling the surge of chakra Kakashi knew Naruto was chasing after him, grinning Kakashi slipped back into the second stage of the shushin. _'It's nice to see Naruto cheery before this mission starts. I hope he is the same after all is said and done.'_

8888

Naruto gazed down at the group of bandits before him, mildly agitated with the groups ability to coerce civilians into remaining quiet. It had taken him and Kakashi three full days of running from village to village, asking those that had been attacked or robbed by the bandits for information on the group. Yet not a single soul had been willing to offer up any sort of evidence or information as to where the group might be. And with the length of time between when the raids occurred and when Kakashi and Naruto arrived Kakashi's nin dogs were unable to track down the crooks.

Thankfully one old man in the last village had produced a piece of cloth that had been torn from one of the bandits cloaks. With that the search was accelerated greatly, instead of having to wait for the next raid they were now able to take the fight to the bandits.

Which lead to their current predicament of looking over the group and observing their habits.

"This is boring!" Naruto whined. Receiving a commanding glare from Kakashi Naruto groaned and looked back through his binoculars. "Alright, I count thirty seven of them. All carry swords and all look like samurai."

"Alright, I count forty two including the group that headed off into the woods a while back." Kakashi said, his voice holding just enough of a condescending tone for Naruto to catch the hint that he should have paid more attention. "And yes all of them seem like samurai but I think a few of them have chakra channeling training because the two or three strongest of the group are constantly channeling chakra. Probably just to enhance their physical prowess but just remember that there might be a ninja in the mix down there."

"Got it!" Naruto cheered, a grin on his face that fell away a moment later. "Say Kaka-sensei do we have to kill them?"

"We? No. You? Yes."

"Huh?"

Sighing Kakashi leaned back against the tree closing his visible eye.

"Outside of gaining promotion through the chunin exams there is an unspoken checklist a genin must meet in order to be recommended for promotion. On that check list is the goal of completing an assassination mission or a 'sweep and clear' mission. This would be the latter of the two. A 'sweep and clear' mission's goal is to eliminate a group in direct combat. Seeing as you are more cut out for direct combat this style mission was selected for you." Opening his eyes to see how Naruto was taking it and how he would take the rest Kakashi continued. "Tsunade-sama had this mission lined up for Team Seven in order to help you finish up that check list. I'm only here to observe and report on how you react to your first kills and am only allowed to back you up in case you freeze. How we proceed from here is entirely up to you."

His piece finished Kakashi waited patiently to see how Naruto would react.

"So... I'm supposed to _kill_ all of those people by myself?"

"It is _supposed_ to be you, Sakura and Sasuke that would take this mission together. However with the other two being absent you are the only one left, so yes. Though this will give you extra points when your promotion comes up for review."

"And also more kills under my belt. Alright well then I'm guessing this also means I have to figure out how to attack and all that don't I?"

"Yep!" Kakashi said with his signature eye smile. "I'll be right behind ya, see ya." With that Kakashi literally faded out of existence.

Naruto couldn't sense, her or even smell where his sensei was. And he hadn't even heard the man move as he left. Shaking his head Naruto grinned.

"Ya, I still have a ways to go before I can keep up with Kaka-sensei. Ah well I'll get there eventually." Turning back to the camp Naruto's mind shifted from happy and care free to calculating as different plans of attack he partially remembered from the academy shifted through his mind. Shrugging and giving up Naruto smirked. "Never did like those lectures on battle tactics." Ignoring the academy tactics and going with what he had planned Naruto stood up and stopped reigning in his chakra as tightly letting it circulate through his body as fast as it wished.

Allowing himself to enjoy the feel of his chakra for a moment Naruto watched as the bandits went berserk over having his chakra signature appear so suddenly. Laughing Naruto slowly raised his hands up over his head, drawing as much chakra as he could muster into his arms and hands as he raised them up. The bandits were all gathering and charging him, swords of cold steel gleaming in the sunlight as they were hoisted over their wielders heads in preparation for a fight. His hands finally reaching their apex above his head Naruto grunted in effort as he tried to build up even more chakra. Naruto's chakra was now visible to the naked eye, he had so much chakra built up around his arms and body that it looked as if he had a blue aura hovering just above him.

Seeing the bandits were almost to his hiding place Naruto hoped what he had was enough and hurled the immense amounts of chakra he had accumulated at the bandits by swinging his arms forward.

"Take this!" Naruto shouted as the chakra left his arms, as it left him the backlash from the attack launched him off the tree branch he had been standing on and back against the trunk of the tree. Despite the pain Naruto laughed at the thrill of channeling so much chakra, a burst of chakra out of his back pushed Naruto off the tree and towards the ground. Before his feet even touched down Naruto had chakra pumping out of his feet so that once he was close enough to the ground he began gliding across the ground at inhuman speeds.

As Naruto was falling to the ground Kakashi watched, with his sharingan eye, as the monstrous wave of chakra descended upon the unsuspecting bandits. From their view of things all they saw was a thin translucent layer of blue stuff coming at them, most of them intending to cut through the blue material if not simply charge through it. It didn't go as the samurai had hoped. Because they couldn't see what Kakashi could. Behind that thin translucent layer of chakra was a massive wave of invisible chakra that was bearing down on them with the certainty of crushing them to oblivion. Kakashi could only wait for the onslaught of blood that was sure to flow freely after the attack had landed.

Instead of their swords piercing through the blue net the ninja had cast at them as the bandits had planned the wave of blue stuff touched their swords and instantly their swords, and shortly after they themselves, were crushed beneath the wave of chakra.

Naruto shot out of the bushes using his new form of movement and was greeted by the sight of his attack right as it reached the bandits. For a split second their swords pressed up against the chakra pulse, then all hell broke loose. It crushed them, short and simply the attack crushed them to the ground splattering their blood all over the woods, splintering their bones and turning their intestines into a smoothy of gore and death. The chakra pulse didn't stop there, it pressed onwards crumpling the very ground beneath the bandit's remains and began to dig a trench back towards the camp. The few bandits that had hung back turned and attempted to run from the invisibly wave of death that descended upon their comrades, sadly for them the pulse of chakra was faster. Soon they too were turned to mush, their insides splashed across the ground and the tents that happened to be close enough. The chakra pulse and the trench marking it's presence ended a few feet short of the first tents.

Surveying the utter devastation his attack had created Naruto couldn't decide if he should laugh or cry. He had just wiped out at least fifteen fully grown men armed to kill and trained to be warriors, and they had hardly even take a moment of effort. It was both exhilarating and horrifying to know he possessed such a hold over life and death. Shaking his head and focusing on the task at hand Naruto glided over the gore, blood splashing up from the chakra streaming from his feet. The stirred up blood licked Naruto's heels, staining the bottom cuffs of his jeans a crimson red.

Ahead of him the remaining bandits were regrouping and rethinking their battle strategy, several of them took off into the woods. For what purpose Naruto didn't know, they might be calling reinforcements or they might simply be fleeing for their lives. They did just see half of their camp wiped out after all. Shrugging and deciding neither reason merited them any mercy Naruto created fifty or so clones while he was gliding and sent them off to track down the wayward opponents. He wouldn't need much help with the remaining twenty or so bandits.

Deciding to kick it into high gear before the bandits could fully regroup Naruto accelerated, going from merely gliding through the gore towards the camp to practically vanishing from sight and reappearing in the center of the camp. Pulling out as many kunai as he could Naruto spun in place, becoming a veritable whirlwind of orange Naruto released the kunai once he reached top speed. The kunai scattered throughout the camp, tearing through anything and anyone that chanced to cross their path whether it be a tent or a person. Five more samurai fell to the unorthodox method of attack. Coming to a halt and clutching his head Naruto groaned.

"Ah crud! Not my best idea." Grinning despite the pain Naruto chuckled. "Also not my worst."

"Yes it is brat, cause now you die!" A bandit who had crept up on Naruto shouted as he leaped out from behind a tent, his sword descending on Naruto.

Naruto just scoffed and vanished in a burst of speed, the bandit's sword missing him by a mile. Reappearing behind the baffled bandit Naruto used his enhanced momentum to bury a kunai up to the hilt in the man's head, spraying blood and brain matter onto Naruto's jacket sleeve. As the warm liquid flowed over his hand Naruto glanced down at it, watching as it dripped down his hand. A pulse of chakra later and the blood was gone from his hand.

"Much better. Now for the last few." Dashing around the camp at speeds none of the bandits could hope to keep up with Naruto made short work of them. Either crushing them with a punch or kick, obliterating by slashing them to bits, or by throwing a kunai at them and turning away before the sight got too gory. While his aim was still far too poor to throw a kunai to the side Naruto could still throw a kunai straight ahead of him and get the same affect as he had gotten with his earlier spar with Kakashi, though it worked better on humans than it did on trees. Gliding about and searching for the last two Naruto finally came across an ogre of a man, standing at least seven feet tall and nearly as wide as he was tall he stood stock still holding two twin swords. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the odd individual but shrugged. The bandit was no ninja, he would die just as easily as the rest. Chucking a kunai at the man Naruto had the unpleasant pleasure of watching the kunai hit the man and bounce off.

That was enough of a shock to bring Naruto to a halt.

"You are fast, but you cannot kill me. I am samurai of Earth Country and you shall pay for your crimes."

"My crimes?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Yes. You have killed my brothers and for this crime only the penalty of death will suffice. Now, will you accept your fate or must I take your life from you by force?"

Naruto stared at the man, his face blank for a minute before the blonde palmed his forehead.

"Yes, I see it all so clearly now. Please meter out punishment as you see fit oh wise one, I was foolish to dare attack your camp of hooligans, misfits, cretins and lowlifes who have been raiding, robbing and rapping the inhabitants of the nearby villages. Who am I to think I am above such noble characters."

The man was silent for a moment.

"I feel as if your mocking me." The bandit finally said after thee minutes of deliberation causing Naruto to face vault.

"No duh you fat oger!" Naruto bellowed as he got back up.

"Are you mocking me?" The bandit questioned.

"Yes! Yes I am!"

"I think you are mocking me."

"Oh for the love of! I could be mocking your mom for all you know!"

Dead silence.

"My momma?"

_'Aw shit.'_ Was the thought flashing through Naruto's mind at the moment as he watched the man's face turn into a mask of blind rage and fury.

"How dare you speak of my momma, I LOVE MY MOMMA!"The bandit bellowed as he reared back and hurled one of his swords at Naruto javelin style.

Naruto' went wide eyed and flashed out of the way, moving to the side in order to watch the sword turned missile plow through the camp tearing through tents till it came to rest buried mid way into a tree on the other side of the camp.

"My my, someone has a mother complex." Naruto teased with a foxy smirk. "Don't worry I won't mention it after I kill you." Vanishing in a burst of speed Naruto appeared behind the man with his fist cocked back and charged up with chakra. Thrusting his fist forward Naruto let he chakra pulse fly towards the man before Naruto vanished again to escape the splatter of blood that was sure to come.

Instead of the gory shower Naruto was expecting the chakra pulse collided with the man's back, caused the man to stagger, and that's all. It didn't cut him, didn't bruise him or even knock him over. It barely even fazed the man.

"Huh?"

"As I said I am samurai of Earth Country, we cannot be killed. We are invincible. We are..."

"Blah blah blah, so you got some tough skin. Big whoop! Now hold still and die!" Naruto shouted before launching another chakra pulse at the man. This time as soon as the pulse left his hand Naruto used a burst of speed to move past the chakra pulse and past the stationary man in order to launch a secondary chakra pulse from behind the man. Both the frontal and the rear attacks crashed into the man at the same time, crushing him between monumental amounts of pressure.

Still his body remained in tact.

When the two crushing blows let up the man staggered, leaving over to clutch his chest and suck in air. Despite his bodies resilience the attack still had affected him, blood was running out of his nose and starting to leak from his ears as well as his eyes.

"I am samurai of Earth Country, we cannot..."

"You _will_ be killed!" Naruto shouted even as he watched the man stand back up. Shooting forward and rolling mid air to execute a flying kick aimed at the man's knees Naruto slammed into the back of his knees hard enough to force both knees to bend. As he passed under the now air born man Naruto created two clones, one on each side of the man. The clones worked in perfect unison to slam two chakra pulses into the man's sides launching him sky high. For some reason despite the attack being far weaker than the previous one a look of fear now consumed the bandit's features. "Try and resist this!" Naruto shouted as one of the clones ran over to his side and prepared to help him create a rasengan.

However instead of a blue sphere of chakra being created Naruto's outstretched arm was blown downwards by his clone's first attempt to create the rasengan.

_'Crap! With my chakra control shot I can't make the rasengan.'_ Growling in annoyance at not being able to finish off his opponent Naruto looked up to the still air borne man. The second clone had stayed in the same spot and every time the man began to fall back to the ground the clone would launch a pulse of chakra to keep him air borne. Spotting the samurai's other sword laying uselessly on the ground beside his clone an idea began to from in Naruto's mind. Striding forward and picking up the sword Naruto channeled chakra through the blade, watching in glee as his chakra engulfed the sword.

"Ooh look a new toy." Looking up at the still air borne man a feral grin spread across Naruto's face. Leaping backwards to get a better view of the man Naruto slashed at the man, spreading his chakra out and letting it flow off the blade. To Naruto's delight the chakra reacted as he had hoped in that it turned into a blue blade of chakra that lashed out at the man, managing to pierce through the man's seemingly indestructible skin. The blade of chakra sliced clean through the man's midsection, his intestines and blood falling out moments after the blade passed through him. Seeing the onslaught of gore descending upon him the clone quickly dispelled itself. The sound of wet flesh hitting the ground was a sound that left Naruto's stomach doing all sorts of twist and turns.

"Tou-san!"

"Huh?" Turning his head around Naruto saw that a kid had jumped out from behind a nearby tent and was aiming to cleave off Naruto's head. Spinning the rest of his body using chakra in order to beat the kid to the punch Naruto instinctively brought the sword in his hand up and slammed it against the younger boy's blade. Not being built to withstand chakra, much less Naruto's inhuman amounts, the sword burst into splinters the instant it came in contact with the boy's sword. The steel fragments were launched with the momentum of Naruto's spin, launching most if not all of the shrapnel into the boy's body tearing him to bits. Naruto could only watch in numb horror and fascination as the boy in front of him fell to the ground managing to let out a single cry of agony before blood filled his esophagus choking him.

This was the first death that the victim had made a sound. Naruto just stood there staring at the boy, the youth's body twitched every so often as the different organs in it shut down. Sensing Kakashi land next to him Naruto squashed the feelings of guilt in him and faced his sensei.

"How many people have you killed?"

It was a question Kakashi had expected.

"Many, more than you need to know about or could comprehend at the moment. Are you okay?"

"Ya, I am not new to violence, it's just odd being on the this side of it instead of the receiving end of it. Do I get anything out of this other than the kills under my belt?"

Kakashi looked at the boy, Naruto could live without getting anything out of this other than the kills. He wasn't a brat that had to be spoiled after doing hard or dirty work. But it was also a good idea to end this mission on a better note than the death of a kid who shouldn't have been here.

"Sure, you can raid one tent and take one item from that one tent. The rest we burn. Understood?"

"Got it Kaka-sensei!" Naruto cheered, the idea of returning home with some cool treasure raising his spirits a bit. Glancing around the clearing and noticing that most of the tents were still intact the number of choices was limitless. However a shiny piece of gold just outside one tent caught his attention. "Does it have to come from inside a tent?" Naruto asked as he walked over to inspect the shiny object.

"Not necessarily, why what did you find?" Kakashi asked as he watched Naruto stoop down to pick something up.

When the blonde stood back up in his hands was the beginnings of a sword, the hilt was in tact however the blade itself was missing. The hilt was what had attracted Naruto's attention. The handle was a piece of steel wrapped in elegant crimson red cloth, the guard was seven gold bars all bent in the exact same fashion so as to create a spiral. On top of this golden spiral sat a bar of gold that the blade was supposed to be attached to, however the blade itself which was absent. Oddly there wasn't even a trace as to where the steel had been attached to the hilt.

Seeing his student's _find_ Kakashi grinned.

"Congratulation! You have won, a sword hilt!" Kakashi cheered with mock excitement and an eye smile.

Scowling Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kakashi.

"Whatever! I still say it's cool." Swinging the hilt around as if it had a blade Naruto went through play strokes, dueling with a phantom opponent and grinning.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and looked around to figure out what needed to be done in order to clean up.

"Hey Kaka-sensei, look!" Naruto called out.

Turning back around Kakashi sighed seeing Naruto was holding the hilt of the sword to his neck as if he had been stabbed by the fake blade. Shaking his head the silver haired jonin was about to turn away again when suddenly Naruto went rigid and his eyes attempted to bulge out of his head. Kakashi was confused for a second, and then everything became very clear and very confusing at the same time.

A double sided blade of solid black steel jutted out of the back of Naruto's neck. The blade wasn't thick enough to fully sever Naruto's head from his shoulders but it came close, just about three inches wide the blade went directly through Naruto's neck and spine.

Both were still and neither made a sound.

And then Naruto screamed, how he could scream with the blade blocking his windpipe Kakashi couldn't imagine but Naruto screamed. At the top of his lungs the blonde boy screamed in sheer agony. Before Kakashi could move to try and help a second sound resounded through the area and it froze Kakashi's blood. It was a scream, but not a scream of any human. This was an animal's scream, starting off low and raising in pitch until it was a howl so loud and high pitched it left Kakashi's hears throbbing though he hardly noticed. The last time he had heard that howl was fourteen years ago right as the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi away. Both Naruto's and the fox's screams grew louder and louder, resounding through the entire clearing and far off into the woods scaring off all nearby animals in the vicinity. When orange flames of chakra flickered to life around the blade sticking out of Naruto's neck Kakashi's fear was taken to new heights. However it was just after this development the blade was pulled from Naruto's neck by unseen force, the sound of metal tearing through flesh being the only sound now. The sword, now complete with blade, fell from Naruto's neck and clattered to the ground uselessly. As Naruto's body collapsed to the ground the orange chakra surrounding the sword died out.

Looking from the sword to Naruto and then back to the sword Kakashi decided to tend to Naruto first. Dashing over to his student and inspecting Naruto's neck Kakashi was astounded to find that there wasn't a gaping wound present. There wasn't even a scratch or a scar. He knew he had not been under a genjutsu when he had seen the sword pierce clean through Naruto's neck, so then how was it the blonde didn't have a mark to show that the sword had just run him through?

Naruto groaning startled Kakashi out of his stupor.

"Naruto! Naruto are you alright?" Kakashi asked, praying his sensei's son was alright. Looking over at the sword Kakashi nearly fainted upon seeing two blood red eyes peering at him from the base of the blade.

"Ugh, Kaka-sensei what hit me?"

"You're okay?" Kakashi asked, disbelief and worry evident in his voice.

"Of course I'm okay." Naruto said, sitting up and rubbing his throat which was sore for some reason. "What happened?"

Unable to answer Kakashi just pointed at the sword, the pair of crimson red eyes still watching them.

Naruto turned and followed his sensei's finger to see what the man was pointing out.

"What the!" Naruto shouted, leaping up to his feet. "T-t-the sword has a blade! But that would mean..." Trailing off and rubbing his throat Naruto now knew why his throat was so sore, but then why was he not dead. Examining the blade closer and spotting the crimson red eyes which seemed to be glaring at him Naruto's mind quickly put two and two together. However before he could saw anything the sound of a branch breaking echoed through the clearing and both Kakashi and Naruto went on high alert preparing for a fight. Naruto's first instinct was to reach for his kuani holster, oddly enough though before his hand was even half way to the pouch a piece of metal covered in smooth silky cloth was pressed into his hand. Looking down Narutos saw that the sword which had been several feet away was now resting in his hand as if it had grown there. Bringing the blade up to examine it and the eyes on it closer Naruto glared into the pair of eyes before sighing.

Sighing and letting the sword fall from his hand Naruto watched as the blade flashed out of existence before it could even hit the ground. The sound they had heard turned out to be a shadow clone who had come back to report their success in eliminating the few bandits that had fled.

"Yo boss, we're done!" With that the clone popped out of existence.

"Naruto, what happened to the sword? And those eyes, they belong to the fox don't they?"

Naruto just stared at his now vacant right hand.

"I don't know Kakashi-sensei, I don't know." Closing his hand and making a fist Naruto looked back up at Kakashi. "But I know how to find out. Can we head back to the village now?"

Kakashi observed his student. He knew that those eyes and the howl he had heard belonged to the Kyuubi, and Kakashi was also fairly certain that Naruto knew that as well. However would it be better to try and pry what Naruto knows from him or to simply let the boy tell him in his own time? Sighing Kakashi nodded.

"Sure, help me clean this up and then we will head back."

"Got it."

Working in silence the two cleaned the area, making it impossible to know a veritable massacre had taken place there.

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Naruto didn't say a word on the way back to the village or even when they got back to the village, he just occasionally glanced down at his right hand. When they got back to the village Naruto waved farewell to Kakashi before unconsciously gliding through the town.

Kakashi watched the blonde boy disappear into the village before closing his eye and tilting his head back to face the sky. Enjoying the light drizzle that was showing the village Kakashi slowly released his breath and opened his eye.

"It's gonna be a long night." That said the copy ninja vanished in a swirl of leaves.

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Izumi Yamanaka watched as he daughter milled about the shop, tending to the flowers without complaint for once. Another thing Izumi caught that had not happened in quite some time was how Ino was humming as she worked. That hadn't happened since the Academy days with the Uchiha. Sighing wistfully Izumi couldn't help but grin at the sight of her daughter crushing on some new boy, and judging on the orange wearing boy who had walked her home last night Izumi just _knew_ she was going to get beautiful blonde grandbabies to spoil.

Giggling the elder blonde walked through the back door in the shop to return to the house side of the building in order to start fixing dinner.

And she couldn't have picked a more perfect time as a few minutes after Izumi left Naruto walked into the shop.

Hearing the bell chime Ino turned away from the flowers she was watering and greeted the guest.

"Welcome to Yamanaka flo..." Ino trailed off seeing it was Naruto. Normally she wouldn't trail off at seeing him but the look on his face froze her breath in her throat. His usually calm and cheery bright blue eyes were clouded over with emotion, turning them into twin pools of dark waters hiding mysteries Ino didn't even knew existed. "Naruto?" Ino asked hesitantly, not quite liking the ninja said of Naruto.

The sound of his name being called snapped Naruto out of his thoughts and pulled him back to the real world. Glancing about his surrounding and seeing that his feet had unconsciously taken him to where he wanted to go Naruto grinned at the girl before him.

"Hey Ino-chan!"

Ino watched him blink in realization when she called his name and watched the flurry of emotions that flickered through his eyes, unable to name any of them until his eyes rested on her. The emotion of glee she saw him use to smother the others both warmed her heart and worried her. Glad as she was that she could make him so happy it was troubling to know just how many other emotions he was repressing.

"Hey Naruto, what's up? You here to work in the garden again?"

"Um no, actually is your dad around?"

"Mmm no." Ino said after a moment of thought. "Daddy left on a mission a day or two ago and won't be back for a bit, why?"

The blonde before her cussed and looked down at the ground, mumbling under his breath things she couldn't make out. After a second he looked back up and Ino saw that he was serious yet again. That was when she realized this was the ninja side of him, the side of him that fought tooth and nail against anything that stood in his way and the side of him that was cold enough to do whatever the mission called for.

"Ino-chan can I ask you a huge favor? But you not ask any questions, not ask why I'm asking it and you do as I say?"

Blinking Ino thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Ummm okay? But just nothing perverted." Having another thought Ino continued. "And you have to take me out again and pay."

That got some emotion back into Naruto's eyes laughed.

"Thank kami for you Ino-chan, you are so good to me. A true angel sent from heaven." Naruto said not even meaning to make it sound so flattering.

Ino swallowed and felt her cheeks flare up with heat from his off handed compliment. Fighting down the blush Ino cleared her throat before speaking again.

"So what was the favor you needed, and remember nothing pervy."

Naruto shook his head as he rolled his eyes.

"I am not a pervert. My senseis consist of a super pervert, a masked pervert and a closet pervert but I myself am not a pervert. I hate perverts actually but that is besides the point. I need you to use the mind probe jutsu your dad does."

Naruto watched as Ino's eyes narrowed and she looked at him suspiciously.

"Why do you want me to do that?"

Naruto just cocked an eyebrow at her.

It took a second for her to remember that she had promised not to ask.

"I'm asking because people get addicted to the feel of the mind probe jutsu, I'm making sure you're not one of those."  
>"People get addicted to the feel of having someone stomp through their minds?" Naruto asked, his face scrunched up in disgust. "Ew no, I don't like the feel of it."<p>

"Alright then. Hold still, my dad can do it while people move but I need you to be still."

"Got it Ino-chan!" With that said Naruto stood stock still, closed his eyes and waited.

Ino blinked at the utter trust the boy put in her, blushing at the feel of him placing his mental state in her hands.

_'Baka needs to learn not to be so trusting.'_ Was Ino's thought as she placed her hand on Naruto's forehead and pushed her consciousness into his mind.

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Ino opened her eyes to see that she was standing in a sewer.

"Eh? A sewer?"

"Yep." Naruto said startling the girl and watching as she shrieked and jumped. "Hehe sorry about that, forgot you can't really sense other consciousnesses in this place."

"What is this place? If this was your mind then you shouldn't be talking to me."

"I know, but I as I said no questions. This is part of a really big secret of the village, it will come out sooner or later but I'm hoping for later. Anyways I need you to stay here while I go have a nice little chat with the inner me. But rules first, don't leave this spot or it will take me ages to find you, don't touch any of the walls cause it took your dad a damn near hour to get his hand free the one time he did touch it, don't sit or lay down cause that's a can of worms you don't want to open. And lastly and most importantly if you feel something warm, thick and dark creeping up cancel the jutsu and get away from me regardless of where I am at the time."

Ino gawked at the sheer amount of warning he had to give her just to keep her safe in his own mind.

"What sort of mind to you have to posses defenses of this level?"

Naruto smiled a sad smile.

"As I said, no questions."

Ino frowned at him dismissing her questions so bluntly, it hurt to do a favor for someone and be shut out of it.

Seeing Ino's frown Naruto sighed and dropped his head.

"It will come out Ino-chan, trust me I can't keep it hidden forever. But I really don't want you finding out, especially after I just started to get to know and like you."

"Alright Naruto I won't ask any more questions, go enjoy your mental chat."

Naruto grinned a crooked and wicked grin that spooked Ino.

"Oh yes, a delightful chat with my inner demon." Laughing and shaking his head Naruto walked off into the sewers, waving over his shoulder as he went. As soon as he was out of sight of Ino he broke into a run, trying to find the fox fast and get out fast to avoid Ino getting hurt from being in here for too long. Concentrating Naruto tried to will the paths to open up and for once his mind did as he instructed, taking him to the Kyuubi's cage after only two turns. Slowing to a walk and examining the seal Naruto sighed. "As I thought."

The cage itself had always been the same, made of black metal bars that stretched up endlessly inorder to accommodate Kyuubi's massive size. The two cage doors were held together by a single flimsy slip of paper with the kanji for 'seal' written on it, however that piece of paper was apparently strong enough to restrain even a force as monstrous as Kyuubi. That single piece of paper now had the hilt of the sword Naruto had found earlier sticking directly through the middle of it, wedged in between the bars of the cage.

A pair of crimson red eyes snapped open to peer out at Naruto, the blood red eyes were full of mirth.

"**You expected the sword to be in the seal?" **Kyuubi questioned.

"Not bloody _in_ the seal like this but yes I expected it to be here. No one and nothing else I know of has eyes like yours, one good thing about you fox is your easy to spot when you make an appearance. So what is this gonna do to the seal?"

Kyuubi cocked its head to one side in confusion.

"**You mean you don't know?" **When Naruto just shrugged Kyuubi burst out into a fit of laughter. Roaring with laughter so loud it shook the cavern they were in and sent ripples through the water Kyuubi shook his head down at Naruto. **"You don't even know that the original purpose of this seal was do?"**

"Of course I don't you bastard fox! I had to learn about you through an accident, like any one would tell me how to contact you or the details of our little arrangement." Naruto shouted up at the fox. "Now tell me what the heck it was supposed to do and what the sword changed!"

Kyuubi glared down at the boy and growled.

"**Don't think you can order me around human! I am infinitely more powerful than you!"** Kyuubi roared, glaring down at Naruto who was glaring back just as heatedly, not a trace of fear in Naruto's blue eyes.

"Don't care you sealed and can't do squat so tell me what this is going to do." Naruto ordered again.

Growling Kyuubi was going to refuse but thought better of it. Why start an argument with someone who wouldn't back down when you can simply destroy them.

"**As you wish."** Kyuubi said with a vicious grin on his face showing off his massive maw of razor sharp teeth.

Naruto shivered at the grin, fearing something bad was about to be said.

"**The original purpose of this seal was to slowly siphon off my chakra into you, killing me off in the end and giving you untold amount of power in the process. However you and I both have the devil's luck. This sword is a unique one in that it bonds with it's owner physically, spiritually and mentally to the point that the sword actually becomes a part of you. Which would explain why the blade of the sword vanished after you killed it's previous owner. At least that is what the sword is supposed to have done had it bonded with a normal human being, since it bonded with you it adapted to my presence. It bonded with you as per usual but it also intigrated itself into the seal, so that now the seal is siphoning me into the sword while my chakra is siphoned into us."**

"Us?" Naruto questioned, not liking where this was going.

"**Correct, us. Instead of being killed at the end of this process I will simply be shifted into and a part of the sword. But your still not getting it are you? The sword is going to a part of you, I'm going to be in and a part of the sword meaning..." **Leaving his sentence open to let Naruto finish it Kyuubi had the satisfaction of watching the look of horror that spread across Naruto's face when the boy finally figured it out.

"You and I will be part of each other." Naruto said breathlessly.

"**Correct human, your not as stupid as I thought. However this is another detail you haven't thought of yet. Tell me boy, how long do you think I will live?"**

"I don't know, forever I guess if no one killed you." Naruto replied half listening to what the fox said, his mind was too busy trying to wrap itself around the idea of being bonded to and with the fox.

"**Very good." **Kyuubi said in a condescending tone in order to draw Naruto's attention back. **"Now try and wrap your pathetic mind around this, I'm immortal, I'm bound to you and this sword physically, mentally and spiritually. Can you figure out where I'm going with this?"**

Kyuubi watched Naruto closely, for a second the blonde's expression was blank as he tried to figure out what the fox was hinting at. Then it must have hit him because slowly Naruto's eyes grew wider and wider until his eyes threatened to pop out of his head.

"I'm...I'm... I'm..." Naruto stuttered unable to complete the sentence.

Roaring with laughter Kyuubi nodded his head.

"**Very good! I shall now congratulate you on joining the ranks of the immortals, blessed with eternal youth you get the curse of watching all those you love and hold dear wither and die while you remain young. Cut off from the world and from time. The double sided sword of immortality, ironic wouldn't you say?" **Kyuubi asked with a predatory grin, watching in satisfaction as Naruto just walked away. The blonde either too devastated or shocked to respond.

Ino was bored. No she was beyond bored. Bored is what she had been thirty minutes ago, now she was so far past that she didn't even know how to describe the mind numbing boredom she was feeling now. For the past hour she had been standing in the same spot Naruto had left her, for the first few minutes it was interesting and exciting being in such a unique mind scape. Then it had grown boring after a few minutes of staring at a sewer. A few time the place had shook, something a mind scape should never do, and once or twice she had heard laughter. Not the sweet innocent laughter of a child hood memory as you would expect to hear inside someone's mind, this laughter was other worldly. It was a dark and sinister laugh so low in pitch it bordered on being a growl, the few times Ino heard it chills went up and down her spine a if someone had stomped on her grave.

Seeing Naruto approaching her again Ino perked up, glad to be doing something again. Ino's excitement left her the moment Naruto got close enough for her to clearly see his face.

He looked dead. His eyes were lifeless and empty, staring blankly ahead of him as if his body was moving on auto pilot.

"Naruto?" Ino asked, wondering what could have happened to leave the eternally cheery blonde so depressed.

"Cancel the jutsu Ino." Naruto said, his voice flat and lifeless.

Without a word Ino did as he asked, not knowing how to approach or talk to this new version of Naruto. She only knew him as the cheery boy in her class however this, this was a side of him she didn't even know existed much less comprehended. With a single hand seal Ino canceled the jutsu, pulling both of them out of Naruto's mind scape.

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Ino opened her eyes to see Naruto do the same, sadly his eyes were still void of emotion.

Without a word Naruto got up and started to walk towards the door, the fact night had fallen and rain was currently falling didn't matter in the least to him at the moment. Pushing the door open Naruto was about to step out into the rain when Ino called out to him.

"Naruto, why not stay for dinner?" Ino asked, trying to come up with some reason to keep the blonde around. She didn't know why she wanted him to stick around but she knew that he didn't need to be alone at this moment. Especially walking through the rain or he might catch a cold. "Stay and eat, at least until the rain lets up so you don't get sick."

Naruto turned around and looked at her, his eyes still blank and his mind else where.

Seeing the lifeless eyes Ino unconsciously flinched from Naruto's icy gaze.

Seeing her react in fear to his gaze Naruto's mood worsened.

"I'll be fine, can't get sick." Turning back around Naruto took one step out the door before pausing. "And Ino...chan we can do dinner some other time." Naruto called over his shoulder before stepping out fully into the rain. Leaving the flower shop behind.

Despite the icy rain that poured down on the village Naruto walked at a leizurely pace, not really bothered by the rain. His body was always warm the rain did nothing more than to hide him from the view of those in the houses. In the dark and with this torrential down pour not a soul was around and none could see him.

Not really caring at the moment Naruto loosened his hold on his chakra, allowing it to flow out his feet as he lifted off the ground. Gliding forward on instinct Naruto moved through the rain without a sound, mind far off contemplating the future which now stretched on forever.

Had anyone seen him they would have taken him for a phantom.

Had anyone looked closely they would have seen his eyes morph as a crimson red ring was added to the outside of his cerulean blue eyes.


	3. Time? Time for a change!

**So, do any of you people know how to fix a computer whose 'virtual memory' has maxed out and no longer functions properly? Cause two weeks ago my computer did that and I can no longer use the infernal thing. Had to write this on a library computer, email what i had to myself so that i could work on it later, and repeat the process until the chapter got finished. Anyways here is the latest installment of Flash Blade, enjoy!  
><strong>

**Impure Perfection  
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* * *

><p><strong>To be or not to be? That is the question!<strong>

Naruto peered out over the village, despite the heavy rain that poured down from the sky and dimmed the city lights beneath him Naruto could still clearly make out the important places. The academy, his apartment, the hokage building, Ichiraku 's and even the Yamanaka flower shop. The rain was dense enough that he could partially see through it, only allowing him to faintly make out the outlines of each building.

Laughing mirthlessly Naruto couldn't help but notice the irony of his situation. Here he was sitting atop the hokage monument looking out over the village, he was a part of it and yet at the same time he was cut off from the village. Just as he was now a part of time and yet cut off from it. Frowning at being reminded of his new plot in life the blonde sighed, words like forever and never suddenly seeming far more realistic. Though of all the endless possibilities now open to him there was one question that plagued his mind.

To cut himself off from society and all those close to him, or stay attached and constantly go through the emotional turmoil of having those precious to him die? And even after his current friends died they would only be replaced by new friends who would in turn die off leaving him alone yet again. Either option sounded like a different version of the same hell, and sadly Naruto had to pick which hell he would live. And better than most he understood fully how each would feel. Growing up an orphan the city loathed but could not lash out at Naruto knew just how cold life was with no one at your side. On the other end of the spectrum was Naruto's other choice, the hell of living life constantly losing people no matter how hard he fought to protect them. He couldn't protect someone from time anymore than he could put himself back into the flow of time.

Growling in frustration at his thoughts running in circles Naruto shook his head to try and think of something else. Looking around at his surroundings once more he couldn't help but appreciate the beauty from his perch among the cloud. Now that it was approaching midnight and most of the city lights had been dimmed all that lay beneath his feet was an endless sea of blackness, only broken by the occasional flicker of light pouring though a window as some night owl refused to embrace the warmth of sleep. Above Naruto's head was a reflection of what lay beneath him, endless darkness stretched out in all directions. In between the two pools of blackness Naruto sat, suspended and stranded from both. His one companion being the rain that fell from the sky painting the very air a greyish hue. The only color to be found in this abyssal scene was that of the occasional bolt of lightning that would flash, momentarily lighting up both worlds offering each world a glimpse of the other yet none took the chance to view the other. Only Naruto, a soul cut off from both worlds took the chance to view the two.

Tearing his eyes away from the surreal and unearthly scene Naruto instead looked down at his right hand.

Lifting his hand up and examining his palm, looking for any new mark or symbol etched into his flesh showing the presence of the sword. Yet oddly there was none.

'_Maybe the mark shows up on the fox's symbol?'_ Pushing that thought to the back of his mind and making a mental note to examine the seal on his stomach later Naruto instead turned his hand around so the palm was facing away from him out over the village. Closing his eyes and willing the sword to appear Naruto was rewarded with the feel of a piece of cloth covered metal being pushed into his hand. Opening his eyes back up Naruto saw that sure enough his new sword had reappeared.

Naruto pulled the sword closer and examined it, looking up and down the obsidian black blade for the crimson red eyes that had been on the blade earlier that day. Not seeing the eyes Naruto growled at the blade, his annoyance and frustration growing till it peaked. With a shout of fury he hurled the sword out over the village.

The blade flew a good distance into the night sky before it suddenly vanished in a flash of orange light. Not a heartbeat later and the sword flashed back into existence in Naruto's had, the momentum of the throw still moving the sword so that without Naruto even trying the blade jerked downwards and embedded itself in the rock. Interestingly enough the crimson red eyes had decided to make an appearance as they were now looking at at Naruto, malicious glee evident in the blood red gaze.

"I'm not getting rid of you am I?"

**_'Not on your life, human.'_** The voice of Kyuubi boomed inside Naruto's head.

Naruto blinked at stared at the sword in shock.

"You can speak?"

_**'Only while the sword is out, and think your words. I don't need you being thrown in an asylum for talking to your sword.'**_

Naruto snorted before reaching out and pulling the sword from the blade. _'What do you care if I get tossed in the loony bin?'_ He mentally asked the fox even as he tossed the sword out over the village again. After tossing it he cocked his hand back ready to throw the blade once it flashed back to him.

**_'I care because now that you and I are linked, any creature with any semblance of intelligence will understand that you and I are now one and the same. In other words our names will become interchangeable from here on out. My peers won't see it as Naruto being put in the asylum, they will see it as Kyuubi being put in the asylum. And I refuse to appear crazy or delusional.'_** His speech finished the fox willed the sword to return to Naruto.

_'So?'_ Naruto responded, tossing the blade again. Each time he threw the sword its momentum and speed increased until it became a near constant act of throwing the blade as if he had a limitless supply of them to hurl. _'And what do you mean our names our interchangeable? I'm not you.'_

_**'Not in your mind you're not, however the other demons and higher level beings will see us as one and the same. As I told you earlier this sword is linking us in both soul and body. The only thing preventing us from merging is the Fourth's thrice damned seal. Kami must have a major bone to pick with me for letting the Fourth seal me inside someone like you.**_

_'Hmmm? What's so bad about being sealed in me? Wouldn't it be just as bad if you had been sealed into anyone else?'_

**_'No, my entire reputation is that of a monster with unimaginable amounts of power and a bloodlust to match. For centuries I was feared and respected for being the most vicious of all the biju, killing __thousands without a moments hesitation and doing so in ways your innocent mind can't even fathom. And yet here I am now, sealed inside of a brat who would take a kunai in the chest just to try and protect someone else, even if that someone is your opponent.' _** Kyuubi gave a vicious snarl then though oddly enough Naruto felt that for once it was not directed at him. **_'Just another reason to curse that Uchiha bastard.'_**

The mention of the name Uchiha was enough to stop Naruto mid throw, instead of tossing the sword he pulled the sword closer and peered into Kyuuibi's eyes.

_'Uchiha bastard? Who? Sasuke?'_

_**'Sasuke?'**_ The beast questioned and from both his tone and the look in his eyes Naruto could tell he was confused. Though only for a second as a moment later understanding flashed through his eyes followed by roaring laughter. **_'That whelp of an Uchiha is nothing more than an insect compared to the prowess of the man I am speaking of. No the Uchiha who I loathe with every fiber of my being is Madara Uchiha, he is the reason I attacked your village fourteen years ago.'_**

Naruto blinked at that tid bit of information, so far as he knew no one in the village knew why Kyuubi attacked. They just thought he was a wild beast come to kill them.

_'Madara Uchiha? I think I heard about him in the academy, didn't he found the Uchiha clan or something like that?'_

_**'Yes you've heard of him you incompetent fool! He is one of the founders of your pitiful village! He along side Hashirama Senju, another son of a bitch I detest, created your village.'**_

_'So then the reason you attacked was to get revenge against Madara?' _Naruto asked, not quite understanding what Kyuubi was getting at.

Kyuubi snorted in amusement and Naruto felt that the giant fox was shaking his head.

_**'No, the reason I attacked was because Madara used a genjutsu to control me. I would never willingly attack this village were I in control of myself, a great man taught me better than that.'**_

Naruto shook his head and stopped throwing the sword in order to sit down and look the fox in the eye.

_'Okay hold up, hold up. Madara was alive fourteen years ago and used a genjutsu to take control of you? But if he helped found the village then he should be long dead by now. And why wouldn't you attack this village? You just said you were known for being blood thirsty and violent. And what great man are you talking about?' _Naruto asked in rapid succession, his mind racing to try and learn all he could about a beast no one knew anything about.

Kyuubi laughed at his host's confusion. Shaking his head and deciding to answer the questions one at a time he focused on the one that started the entire conversation.

_**'Yes Madara was alive then and yes he should have been dead, however he managed to escape death by tricking the Shinigami-sama and becoming immortal.'**_

_'He became immortal?'_ Naruto gaped, he himself had just recently become immortal and he barely even knew how he did it. Yet someone else did it purposefully? _'How the hell did he do it and why?'_

_**'He gave up one of his sharingan eyes in order fool the Shinigami-sama and escape death.'**_

_'You are telling me he _just _gave up an eye and became immortal?'_

_**'I suppose you human's expression of 'the eyes are the window to the soul' is truer than you think.' **_Kyuubi said with a shrug.**_ 'But don't get any idea about spreading that around because Madara did something with his sharingan eye that allowed him to trick Shinigami-sama, and that stunt landed his ass on the top of Shinigami-sama's shit list. Every demon out there would love to kill that man and claim the bounty Shinigami-sama put on his head. As for...' _**Kyuubi started only for Naruto to cut him off.

_'Hold up, the Shinigami put a bounty on Madara? Why did he do that and what exactly is the reward for killing him? And if he is immortal than doesn't that mean you can't kill him? And...'_

_**'SHUT UP!'**_ Kyuubi roared within Naruto's mind causing the blonde to wince and pause in his game of fetch with the sword. Huffing Kyuubi shook his head. **_'Enough with the endless inquisition, I will answer your questions but one at a time. Understand?'_**

Naruto nodded and rubbed the back of his head, his head still rattled from Kyuubi's outburst.

_'Fine fine, so then what was the bounty?'_

_**'Last I heard if you managed to kill Madara you would be granted a favor from Shinigami-sama. And seeing as Shinigami-sama can do virtually anything a favor from him is priceless. Sadly I have not had contact with any of my kind in ages so I don't know if Shinigami-sama has upped the bounty or not.'**_

_'If he can do so much then why can't he just kill Madara?'_

_**'Because Shinigami-sama cannot manifest himself on the earth of his own accord, he has to be summoned and I doubt Madara is in a rush to summon him.'**_

_'Oh okay. But If Madara is immortal doesn't that mean he can't be killed?'_

_**'There is a distinct difference between being immortal and being invincible. You are immortal but were some one were to remove your head from your shoulders you would drop dead just as surely as any other man.'**_

Naruto felt Kyuubi's glee at the thought of his death and couldn't help but roll his eyes.

_'Don't get any ideas fox, if your immortality is transferred to me I am pretty sure that means my death is transferred onto you.'_

Kyuubi gave a snort at that.

_**'I know that boy, your death would have been my own even before we bonded through the sword. The seal on your stomach guarantees that should you perish I shall join you shortly. Now shall we get back to the original topic of our conversation or do you have more questions?'**_

Naruto paused in confusion for a moment, unable to recall what had started the conversation. In the back of his mind he could tell the Kyuubi was rolling his eyes.

_'Oh! Madara and why you attacked the village! So then if he was immortal and was around fourteen years ago how could he make you attack the village? You are literally a force of nature, capable of destroying anything. I've held a touch of your chakra and have been unstoppable, I can't imagine how strong he must have been to make you attack the village.'_

_**'It wasn't that he overpowered me, none but the Rikudou Sennin could ever do that.'**_

_'Then how did he make you attack?' _Naruto questioned, truly curious but also slightly disturbed by the subdued tone in which Kyuubi was talking. Every time they had talked Naruto had seen the fox as strong, fearless, confident, powerful beyond comprehension and a clever. Despite all that the villagers said Naruto saw no evil in the beast, anger and rage were evident but those in and of themselves were not evil. Now to hear the fox talking like this, and about someone who apparently control him, was almost as disturbing as Naruto's new found immortality.

For a moment all was quite within Naruto's mind, neither himself or the fox breaking the silence. Naruto was just about to ask again when he heard the fox sigh and felt that the fox had sagged down to the floor of his cage.

_**'He took them away.'**_ Kyuubi breathed out in a defeated sigh.

Naruto stopped throwing the sword, instead he drove it into the rock he was sitting on so that he could peer into Kyuubi's eyes. And for the first time the crimson red eyes were not shining with wicked humor or blazing with bottomless hate. The red eyes that haunted the dreams of many residents of Konoha were now filled with an ache Naruto knew intimately. The pain of being alone.

_'Took who away?'_ Naruto prodded, sensing that Kyuubi might clam up on him.

_**'My family.' **_Kyuubi breathed out, his voice filled with longing.

Naruto's jaw dropped open at that revelation.

_'You had a family?'_ Naruto asked, the thought so alien it didn't register fully. Before he could process it Kyuubi went on.

_**'Heh, ya.' **_Kyuubi mumbled over the mental link, a sad smile spread across his face.**_ 'The family I had that never existed. The mate I had that was never real. The kits I had that were never born. The den we shared that I never set foot in. He took away all that I never had. Memories I cherished more than life itself, and they were nothing more than trumped up lies created by a man with no heart.'_**

_'He gave you a fake family and then took it away?' _Naruto asked, only partially understanding what the fox was talking about.

Sighing Kyuubi shook his head, knowing he would have to explain everything or Naruto would never understand it.

_**'Kit, I am physically stronger than any other creature alive, have more chakra than any human or any of the other tailed beast and have attacks strong enough to turn all of Fire Country into ash in an instant. But I do have one glaring weakness, it is one I share with you. Genjutsu, I cannot dispel them. However with the size of my chakra reserves no ordinary genjutsu can affect me, even the strongest genjustu you humans can create barely even affects me so this weakness is one few can exploit.'**_

_'Then how did Madara do it?'_

_**'His sharingan eye. Those thrice damned eyes were created by Nibi, the two tailed cat. While Nibi is far from being the strongest of us biju she is the one I dread fighting. All the other biju have the physical prowess to offer me a challenge, Nibi does not. Instead she has the ability to cast genjutsu beyond your comprehension, she can literally kill with nothing more than a glance. She gave her gift of genjutsu to the eldest son of the Rikudou Sennin and from his line comes the Uchiha clan. Very few of them ever delve far enough into the true powers of their eyes to be adept enough to control me. However Madara did just that.'**_

_'So then he used it to control you?'_

_**'In a sense he did, the sharingan is strong enough to ensnare me in a genjutsu but not so strong as to turn me into a walking puppet as so many think. When Madara summoned me to fight against Hashirama Senju he simply ensnared me in a genjutsu and allowed me to go rampant, hoping my attacks would wound Hashirama. However when I attacked the village he needed me to focus on your village and that required a more... delicate hand. I don't know how he did it or how he even found me, but that bastard must have spent months if not years feeding me lies and altering my memories. He gave me a family and a home full of memories then, then he took them away by having a leaf ninja kill them in front of me.'**_

Naruto's eyes widened at that. The mere idea of watching anyone close to him die chilled Naruto's blood with dread.

_'So then that's why you attacked. To get revenge on the village for taking away your family.'_

_**'Yes, Madara let me see enough of reality to fight but not enough to realize that any mate of mine would have to be strong enough to defend herself and the kits from anything short of another biju. No human would be able to kill a mate of mine, and any kits I had would be unkillable like me. But I didn't think of that. All I could think of was burning your village down to the ninth ring of hell. It wasn't until I had been sealed in here that the affects of that genjutsu began to wear off, I can still feel it though. I was in that genjutsu for so long I have years of memory and all of it is fake now that I look back on it with a clear mind.'**_

His tale finished Kyuubi went silent and Naruto could tell the fox was done talking about this matter. Pulling his sword Naruto tossed it out over the village again, resuming his game of catch. Now that he was no longer focusing on what the fox was saying he could hear the rain thundering down around him and the occasional clap of thunder. As he sat there, looking out over the village playing catch with an invisible phantasm that never failed to return his sword, Naruto thought about all he now knew and all that he didn't know yet.

A feral grin slowly swept across Naruto's features as an idea formed in his head.

_'Oi, fox.' _Naruto mentally called out waiting to sense that the beast was listening. When he felt he had his tenants attention once more Naruto continued. _'You said whoever kills Madara gets a favor from the Shinigami right?'_

_**'Ya... what of it?'**_

_'What say you we go down in the history books as the guys who killed Madara Uchiha the immortal? I mean the guy has had ages to train and grow stronger. I can only imagine how powerful he must be by now, that sounds like a fight I could really enjoy. Plus I mean it being Madara we are killing is a nice bonus wouldn't you agree?'_

Kyuubi roared with laughter, not the cruel malevolent laughter Naruto had grown accustomed.

_**'Kit I do believe this is the start of a horridly annoying, tiresome and hellashish relationship, but at least it will be fun.'**_

Naruto grinned, knowing that was as close as the fox would ever verbally agree with him. Hoping up and summoning his sword to him he bent his arm back to let his blade rest against his shoulder. Letting out a sigh the hold he had held over his chakra for the past few hours vanished as he decided to stop hiding. Stop trying to fit in. Stop trying to work for their acceptance. Why should he care? He would outlive all of these people, if some of them cared enough to look past his monstrous presence then those he would cherish. The rest? Not his problem.

"But first, we gotta get strong enough to take him on." With that Naruto crouched down low and charged as much chakra as he could into the soles of he feet. He could already see the lights coming on as several of the more astute ninja woke from his chakra signature suddenly flaring into its full potential. Grinning like a loon Naruto shot off the mountain moving faster than every before, an audible crack rivaling that of the thunder resounded over the village.

**8888**

Asuma sighed as he listened to Ino rant and rave, arguing with Tsunade over whether or not their team could handle a mission higher than the D-ranks they had been performing for the past month or so.

"We have great team work even without Shikamaru, have the son of the Third as our sensei, and not to mention Team Seven has been taking higher class missions for the past two months since Sasuke left. We should be allowed to go on higher ranking mission as well!" Ino huffed, her rant finished. She had seen neither hide nor hair of Naruto since their their trek into his mind scape. She knew he was in the village as every now and then she could sense his chakra signature moving about, though it had grown exponentially since she last talked to him. And knowing he was in the village and not talking to her irritated her, she had just the idea to get his attention but she needed some money first. Money she didn't have.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples, it had been the same argument for the past three days. Every time Team 10 came in for a mission this was the end result. The busty hokage was just about to turn the girl down yet again when the doors to her office were kicked in.

"Oi! Ba-chan, I need a mission!" Naruto shouted, barging into the room and flopping down on the couch. "So what do you have for me?"

"Nothing at the moment as I was IN A MEETING!" Tsunade roared, absolutely livid with her adopted grandson's brash behavior.

"Oh?" Turning and actually noticing the other people in the room Naruto's face lit up upon seeing who it was. "Yo Asuma-sensei, Choji, Ino-chan. How you guys been?"

"Yo Naruto, can't you get in trouble for just barging in like that?" Choji asked to which Naruto smirked.

"Yes I probably could, but then so could you for eating in here and so could Asuma-sensei for smoking."

Both Choji and Asuma paused and blinked at that, then shrugged.

"My dad smoked in here so I can as well."

"Well what if Ba-chan said it's unhealthy and banned smoking in here?"

"Then..." Asuma started only to be cut off by Tsunade slamming her fist down on the table.

"Enough! Since you guys get along so well I've decided what I'm doing with you gaki." Tsunade said to Naruto before focusing on Asuma and getting serious. "Naruto has currently found himself without a team and your team has recently lost it's fourth member. I want you to test Naruto and see if he could be integrated into your team without disrupting the team mechanics. If he passes then report back here tomorrow and I'll see what I can do for you. Dismissed!" Tsunade growled out, narrowing her eyes and daring any of the four to say anything.

All four wisely left as quick as they could without running.

Sighing in relief at finally being alone Tsunade flopped back in her chair.

"Were Jiraiya, Orochimaru and I that bad?" The blonde hokage mumbled to herself before shaking her head. _'Anyways, I need to keep trying to call that pervert back. He needs to come get Naruto, sending the gaki out with Kakashi was one thing. While I trust Asuma he won't know how to handle Naruto as effectively as Kakashi did.'_

**8888**

"You know," Asuma mumbled around his cigarette once his team plus Naruto had reached the training grounds. "sticking you on our team is gonna be troublesome."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Well our old unit was built to be a stealth and capture squad. Neither of those things suits you very well, especially with that unmistakable chakra signature of yours."

Naruto snorted.

"Oh please I can so do stealth!"

Asuma simply raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "We'll see." Turning his head to look at Ino and Choji. "You two already passed this test so while this will be easy for you I still expect you to try and out match Naruto."

Choji simply nodded and kept eating while Ino saluted.

"Got it! Operation outlast Naruto is a go."

"Tch, as if you could outlast me." Naruto teased, a playful smirk on his face.

Ino narrowed her eyes at her fellow blonde.

"I can too outlast you, I outlasted both Shika and Choji last time."

"You outlasted a slacker who only did the bare minimum and a taijutsu expert! Oh my you truly are phenomenal!" Naruto cheered, mock admiration on his face. Getting serious and grinning Naruto shook his head. "You might be good Ino-chan but you can't touch this fox."

"Oh is that so Mr cocky?"

"It is so Miss Jealous."

The two continued to glare at one another until Asuma snapped his fingers, effectively diverting all attention onto himself.

"If you two are done can we start?" The bearded jonin teased, watching as the two youths blushed. At least Ino did, Naruto looked like he should have been blushing yet Asuma could see no blood in his cheeks. Making a mental note of the oddity Asuma went on. "This exercise is to test how long you can remain undetected in enemy territory." Forming a hand seal Naruto was overly familiar with Asuma quickly made three shadow clones. "If your cover is blown a squad, if not more, will be dispatched to locate you. As such you will have twenty minutes to get back to the village and hide as best as you can. After that I will start to seek you out. Whenever I catch you, and I will, you then have to help me locate the others as if you are caught by the enemy they will torture you till you give up your teammates. We will bypass the torture part but the principal is the same, getting caught hurts your teammates. Everybody understand?"

Receiving three nods Asuma nodded. "Alright, then get going the timer started three seconds ago."

Ino and Choji did as Asuma expected, they both darted off towards the village. Naruto however just stood his ground and impassively looked at Asuma. "You are supposed to be hiding, you know that right?"

"Oh I know, but the timer hasn't started yet so why start the chase early? Spoils the fun."

Asuma and his clones all raised their eyebrows but said nothing, let the kid play it as he wanted.  
>Twenty minutes later Asuma strolled up to Naruto, shaking his head as he went.<p>

"You're out Naruto." But even as he said it he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and instantly knew something was wrong.

"True the boss is out." The clone said with a grin as it flicked two kunai at two of Asuma's clones. Seeing that both of his targets had dodged his attack the Naruto clone grimaced. "The boss didn't think that would work but it was worth a shot."

"The objective of this was stealth you know."

"Maybe so but you yourself said that we had been found out and were now being pursued, so if we kill those pursuing us then we can resume total stealth."

Asuma blinked at that. However before he could say anything the clone dispelled itself in a puff of smoke. Shaking his head Asuma grinned.

"This kid is interesting, no wonder Kakashi was so interested in the boy."

8888

Ino smirked to herself mentally as the body she was currently in couldn't exactly smirk. Her own body was safely stashed in the back of a merchant's cart. After paying the man to let her take a nap on his cart while he rode around town delivering his goods Ino had taken over the body of a pigeon she had seen on a building, making it nigh impossible for Asuma to find her. Her chakra signature would come from the bird while her body was safe and sound else where, she would have to cancel the jutsu in an hour or so but that was plenty of time for Asuma to find Naruto and Choji.

Speaking of her teammates she couldn't find either of the two. Now that she could effortlessly soar over the village she was scanning for her teammates to see how they were doing. Impressively enough she couldn't locate either of them, which was odd considering how easy finding Naruto should be. She kept waiting for his chakra signature to appear but it never did.

_'Maybe he is hiding in a sealed building? Or...' _As Ino contemplated the various places her teammate might be something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was a golden yellow falcon, flying her direction at break neck speeds. Flapping her wings Ino lifted higher into the sky, out of the way of the falcon, only for the falcon to alter course and pursue her. _'What's this bird's problem?'_ Ino mentally shouted, afraid some raptor bird had taken an interest in making her into its lunch. Sadly the body she was in wasn't built for speed so no matter how she maneuvered the falcon caught up to her in moments. However instead of attacking her as she had expected the bird flew past her and then came to a halt so it could hover a few feet away from her.

Ino blinked as she saw the falcon up close, it was unlike any bird she had ever seen before. Not just a few of its feathers were golden, _all_ of them were the same golden blonde color. And its eyes were a bright and shining cerulean blue.

_'Wait a minute...'_ Gears within Ino's mind began turning and right as she was putting the puzzle together the falcon winked at her.

Utterly flabbergasted Ino could only watch as the falcon did a backwards roll in the air before falling into a nose dive and plummeting towards the village. Ino lost track of the falcon after it dived down into a crowd and stole a ladies hat.

8888

Asuma let out a puff of smoke in frustration, he was currently standing on a water tower scanning the village. The sky was starting to change color, it wasn't sunset yet but the sky was beginning to shift from bright blue to a more orange color.

_'Six hours, six hours and I still can't find this guy. Even with Ino and Choji, well Ino, helping we can't find him. Choji was having a mental break down, sobbing and blabbering on about how some squirrel stole his chips so he isn't much help at the moment. But still, I should be able to find this guy on my own.'_

Just as Asuma went to launch from the water tower he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Sighing he leapt down to street level and quickly caught up with the man.

"It's Iruka right?" Asuma questioned, watching as the brown haired man turned around. He was of medium height with short spiky brown hair held up and out of his eyes by the Konoha head band he wore. Across his nose was a horizontal slash that was obviously an old battle wound. He had on a standard chunin outfit including the green flak jacket.

"Um, yes. And you would be Asuma Sarutobi, what can I do for you?" Iruka asked, wondering what the jonin could need.

"It's about an old student of yours, do you remember Naruto?"

Iruka didn't chuckle or snort, he out right laughed.

"Remember? I can't forget him! Hell that kid has my old forehead protector." Iruka laughed, obviously remembering good times. Though when Asuma didn't join in Iruka calmed down and shook his head, now remembering all the trouble Naruto had gotten into. "What did he do this time?"

"Oh he hasn't done anything, I just need help finding him. He is being transferred onto my team and as a test I wanted to see if he could remain undetected." Pausing when Iruka stifled a laugh Asuma decided to ignore it and keep going. "Anyways I can't seem to find him, I asked a few ANBU and they all said ask you as you were the one who could find him."

Iruka nodded, his mind already trying to figure out how to track the blonde.

"I just followed the ANBU and stayed far enough behind so that when he dropped his disguise I caught him. How long has it been since you last saw him?"

"Ino saw him, she thinks, about five hours ago."

Iruka died laughing.

"Five hours? Oh no no I can't help with that! If we ever lost him for more than a few minutes tracking him down again was impossible. At least until lunch time, and then he was bound to show up at Ichiraku's." Patting Asuma on the shoulder Iruka began to walk away. "Just stake out Ichiraku's, you are bound to see him soon enough."

With that Asuma watched as his last hope of tracking down Naruto walked away. Giving up and doing as the chunin suggested Asuma keyed up his team's walkie talkie.

"Ino, Choji. Head to Ichiraku's ramen and stake the place out. Naruto is sure to show up there." Asuma instructed over the radio before leaping up to the nearest building. Not a second later laughter erupted over line.

"Oh we know Asuma-sensei, we are eating dinner with him already." Ino called back.

Asuma slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"And you didn't tell me because..."

"Because Choji is currently in an eating contest with him and Naruto-kun offered to buy my food, saying since we were teammates trying to avoid an enemy squad we should always remain loyal. That and it's amusing seeing who can eat more."

Asuma shook his head and couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face.

"Enjoy your meal Ino, and tell Naruto welcome to the team for me will ya?"

"Got it Asuma-sensei!"

8888

"He say's welcome to the team." Ino said to Naruto, the latter of which was currently poking a comatose looking Choji.

"Tch light weight, thirty bowls is nothing." Naruto admonished jokingly as he drained his last bowl dry and placed the empty bowl over Choji's head. Turning to face Ino he grinned. "Of course he did, being sneaky is my specialty!"

Ino shook her head and giggled at Naruto's arrogant smirk.

"How is it you hide your signature so well, I can't even sense it right now but the other day at the flower shop it was impossible to miss your signature."

"_That_ my inquisitive flower is an Uzumaki special! You see when I was in the academy and trying to learn how to do the transformation jutsu I did it wrong, or right depending on your view, and made a different version of the jutsu. You see the instructors forgot to teach me all the details of the jutsu so I didn't get it. Your supposed to use chakra around your body to shift what others see of you. I didn't know that, all I knew was I used chakra and made myself look different. So I toyed with it for a month or three and stumbled across what I use now. It is a true transformation, not an illusion."

Ino blinked at that.

"How many people know that?" The blonde girl asked.

"Iruka-sensei, the Old Man, Pervy Sage, Sasuke-teme and now you. In my last year at the academy Iruka-sensei taught me the proper transformation jutsu so that I could keep that one close to the vest. Though I am still the only one that can pull the jutsu off."

"Why can't they pull it off?" Ino asked curious as to why such skilled ninja couldn't pull off a jutsu an academy student could. Seeing the wicked grin on Naruto's face Ino knew he had a story coming, and oddly she looked forward to it. She was growing fond of his stories.

"Okay let me rephrase that, they _can_ do it they just choose not to. Their experiences with the jutsu were less than thrilling."

"How so?"

Naruto didn't answer right away and instead ordred up another bowl of ramen.

"Well I'll let you pick which one you hear about and you can guess at the others. So do you wanna hear about Iruka-sensei the snake charmer, Jiraiya-chan or Sasuke's alley days?"

Ino blinked at the disturbing titles, wondering if she wanted to hear any of them.

"Um, let's take Iruka the snake charmer?"

Naruto burst out laughing.

"Alright but you can never let Iruka know I told you this, he would skin me alive for telling. Now before the story begins I need to explain the jutsu a bit, you see you use chakra to actually morph your body into whatever you are trying to be. Meaning I can't turn into a rock or anything like that because they have no chakra so I would in essence be killing myself. It also means that you need to know the anatomy of whatever your turning into or else you can seriously screw insides up, hurts like hell when you do that. Secondly the smaller the object your turning into the greater the chakra control you need. The only reason I can do it so easily is because my body is slightly different than normal, it is highly adaptable and heals rapidly so my body shifts shape easier. All the others needed a lot of practice to get it.

"Anyways after Iruka-sensei found out I had created a true transformation jutsu he wanted to learn it, so I showed him the seals and explained it to him. Oddly enough the only creature he knew well enough for the jutsu to work was a snake, can't remember the name but it was some uber rare snake or so he said. So he pulls the jutsu off perfectly and turns into snake no big deal, however we then discovered something. Tell me, if a jutsu requires hand seals how does one pull it off while in the body of a snake?"

Ino was silent for a moment, then her eyes widened in horror as realization spread across her platinum blue eyes.

"He was stuck?"

Naruto laughed and nodded.

"Yep! For an entire week I was the one teaching the academy." Naruto declared proudly, his chest puffing out.

"So that why Iruka seemed out of it that week." Ino mumbled, a sly grin on her face as she watched Naruto deflate.

"Whatever, anyways that weekend I got sick of trying to teach the class so I ordered him to go talk to the Old Man. Iruka refused cause he didn't want to admit he had gotten stuck, so I chased him all over the place. At least I chased him until I met _her_."

"Her?"

Naruto shivered and nodded.

"Yes _her_. The creepy snake lady from the chunin exam's saw me chasing a rare and endangered snake around the place with a kunai."

"A kunai?" Ino asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Iruka bit me, I wanted vengeance." Naruto responded gruffly, apparently still irked over being bit.

Ino palmed her forehead but motioned for Naruto to continue.

"Well the snake lady saw me chasing Iruka and so she pinned me to a wall with kunai, then glared at me and told me to pick on someone my own size. After that she went and caught Iruka. I didn't see Iruka-sensei until that Monday and any time I ask him what happened that weekend he just turns red and his mind turns to goo."

Ino was silent for a minute before she burst out laughing so hard she bent over and put her head on the table.

"Does anything with you ever go according to plan?" Ino laughed out, while wiping a tear from her eye. "I doubt there is anyone else who has as many tales as you do, and your only fourteen. By the time you're old you will have enough stories to write a book."

Ino saw how at the mention of growing old a flash of pain had shot through Naruto's eyes as if he remembered something unpleasant. Before she could even be sure she had seen it that pain was gone and replaced by amusement.

"Well if I ever do write a book I'll be sure to give you a chapter or two."

"Me?" Ino asked, perplexed at how she could take up that much room in a book. "What all do you have on me?"

"Oh not much, yet. But it would take an entire chapter just to get the readers to understand just how pretty you are."

Ino's face flushed crimson, though before she could respond to the compliment Naruto continued.

"And it will take another three chapters to get them to understand how annoying you can be." Naruto roared with laughter even as Ino began to beat him with her fist, he put up no resistance aside from using his arms to make sure she didn't hit his head or face. As the two goofed off Naruto accidentally bumped into Choji, waking the tummy Akimichi from his ramen induced coma.

Ayama couldn't help but laugh as she watched the scene unfold. When the twin towers of ramen bowls got knocked over in Naruto and Ino's spat Ayame only laughed harder. The fact several of the bowl shattered was irrelevant seeing as the bill from the impromptu eating contest would more than pay for the bowls. Looking over her shoulder at her father who was preparing ramen for the late night crowd Ayame saw the grin that was on her father's face.

Asuma who was watching all this unfold from across the street nodded to himself, satisfied that the team dynamics would work. Though there might be issues later on if the pink head of hair that was stomping away from the ramen stand was any indication.

8888

Naruto had a massive grin on his face. And why shouldn't he? He had a pretty girl on his arm for the second night in a row. Choji had left the stand a bit before them, saying he needed to get home for dinner of all things. Asuma had never shown up. So after Naruto paid the tab he offered to escort Ino home once more, and being a lady Ino had gladly accepted the arm of her escort.

"You know, daddy is gonna get suspicious of you if you keep walking me home. Especially if I keep coming home on your arm."

"Meh it's cool. You know just as well as he does that he can't screw with my mind."

Ino giggled and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Well at least I won't have to worry about you wanting me to braid your hair."

Naruto shivered at that.

"Ya it may be a pain some times but it does pay off having a mind like mine."

"You have a mind?" Ino teased to which Naruto growled. Slipping her arm from his Ino dashed down the street towards her house which was only a few blocks away. She was just about to make it when she felt a sudden surge of chakra from behind her. In a flash of orange Naruto suddenly appeared in front of her, his face inches from hers.

"Becareful Ino-chan, pull a fox's tail to many times and he might bite." Naruto grinned seeing the awe on her face, ignoring the idea of kissing her on the lips he opted instead to simply give her a peck on the cheek.

Ino saw him for an instant and felt that something was off with his image, heard his words, and felt the kiss. Then he was gone in another surge of chakra, though despite the fact that he was moving away from her at inhuman speeds she could once more sense his chakra signature. Ignoring that fact and relishing in the delight of having a boy flirting with her Ino skipped the rest of the way home.

It wasn't until later that night as she was getting ready for bed that her mind put it together.

8888

_'Ya ya ya, I know I wasted a lot of time at the restaurant with Ino-chan.' _Naruto mentally acquiesced to the fox, which had been busting his chops for the past thirty minutes ever since Naruto had called his sword out to train. _'But I'm gonna train all night since thanks to SOMEONE I now have too much energy to sleep much anymore.'_

The crimson red eyes on the sword narrowed.

_**'Fair enough. Oh and you might wish to duck.'**_

Doing as the fox suggested Naruto was rewarded with feeling a sword pass inches over his head, cutting through the space where his neck had previously been.

"Hey! I said train, not kill me!" Naruto scolded the clone even as he released the sword for an instant and summoned it back in a reverse grip so that he could easily stab it backwards dispelling the clone.

_'Thanks fox.'_

Though the fox said nothing Naruto knew the fox had heard him. Turning his attention outwards once more Naruto focused on the battle around him. After dropping Ino off he had returned to training ground seven, it felt more natural training here then at training ground ten, and created a mass of shadow clones to spar against. So far most of the clones had been beaten, all the clones who had attempted to mob him at once had been dispelled in a single swipe. Glancing over at the devastated forest that was now nothing more than a smattering of stumps with fallen trees scattered about Naruto grinned.

_'So have to remember to keep that move in reserve.'_ Sensing a clone darting out of the woods and at him Naruto turned all thoughts out and relished in the joy of battle.

Hours later, in the darkest hour of the night right before the sun rises Naruto lay sprawled out across the training ground. He was sleeping soundly, knowing that the fox would wake him were anyone to come too close.

However the fox couldn't wake him if the fox didn't sense the pair of obsidian black eyes that were watching them. Ghosting around the edge of the clearing the figure reached down and touched the trees Naruto had cleaved clean in half without so much as touching them with his sword.

"Demon chakra..." The figure breathed into the night before vanishing, leaving behind a stump that was starting to grow once more.


	4. Lite the fires and Kick the tires

**It is official, hurricane Sandy sucked. Not because I live where she hit but because I have relatives you do. Or relatives that did I should say. Since the poor souls house was wrecked they have been living with us ever since and it absolute rainbows and unicorns having my room rented out to the relatives while i sleep on the couch. Anyways enough about my complaining, here is the latest chapter. Made it extra long since it has been so long since I last updated. Enjoy.**

**Impure Perfection  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Lit the fires and kick the tires!<br>**

Asuma smirked to himself as he ducked under another swing of Naruto's sword, the kid's technique was still far from perfect but it had improved by leaps and bounds in the month since joining Team 10. The team dynamics had shifted as well, the team was far less strategized and no longer had the different attack patterns Shikamaru had come up with. Instead the team had a more Narutoistic feel to it as each of the members figured out to do next on the spot instead of adhering to one plan of attack. Each member flowing around the actions of the other members so as to assist and protect one another while still allowing each member to pursue their own target. Asuma had to admit it made the team far more capable of handling an onslaught of enemies. Before they had been good at taking down a single high-level enemy in short amounts of time, but struggled against large numbers of weaker opponents. Now they could do both, though their efficiency in taking down high level targets had decreased slightly.

The ground beneath his feet cracking pulled Asuma out of his thoughts.

Choji's fist erupted from the ground and tore through the log Asuma had replaced himself with. Fully emerging from the ground Choji left his arm in its expanded form to grab Naruto and hurl the blonde across the training ground into the forest where Ino was flaring her chakra signature to indicate Asuma's presence.

Ino felt more than saw Naruto as he hurdled towards her location. While they were training it was the easiest thing in the world to pin point where he was, though when they weren't training was another matter altogether. Smirking as she watched Asuma sigh at being found again so quickly she flew out of sight, giving Naruto room to cut loose. She was currently in the body of a sparrow, keeping track of Asuma for the team while Choji and Naruto dealt out the damage. It had wounded her pride the first few times Naruto had asked her to play this role in the fight but she had to admit it worked well, not to mention the private training she got with him to make her more battle ready was a nice trade off. Feeling the tree she was perched on quiver she took off once more.

_'He really does make a mess of things when he fights.' _Ino thought to herself as she tree toppled over. Thinking back to their fights before Naruto came she couldn't think of a single time the training ground had been disturbed by their spars. Now practically every day a tree or two would get knocked over and the ground was constantly being torn up. _'Ah well just means the grounds keepers actually have to do their work.'_

**8888**

Two kunai clashed, the kunai wielded by the thinner arm vibrated as the arm that was wielding it strained to match it's opponent in strength. Shoving against one another the two combatants separated, one with labored breathing while the other was simple grinning.

"Ready for lunch?" Naruto asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

Ino glared at the blonde.

"No." She snapped back, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach. She refused to look weak in front of her crush.

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

"As you wish." With that the two launched back into their training spar. Asuma and Choji had left after the team training session this morning had come to an abrupt halt when Choji had gotten a lucky blow in and rendered Asuma unconscious. Once he had come back to his senses Asuma admitted the team was officially ready to handle higher-level missions before he promptly took off to go inform the hokage of the team's readiness. Choji had stuck around to chat for a bit, but once his bag of chips ran out he headed home for lunch. Once again leaving Naruto and Ino alone in the training ground to work on Ino's endurance and physical prowess.

They'd only been at it for an hour or two, sparing using taijutsu as well as a few weapons, which would account for the kunai and shuriken littering the training ground. To Naruto this was hardly even a work out, good practice for his technique but physically he could do this all day and not break a sweat. Ino on the other hand was currently straining to keep going, her chakra reserves were severely taxed and her arms and legs were both crying out for a rest.

Bending backwards to avoid a sweeping kick Ino made use of her flexibility to shift into a backbend, placing her hands on the ground and lifting her legs up off the ground in the hopes of catching Naruto with a swift kick. Surprisingly it worked, she felt her foot make contact with his chin. She was just about to grin in triumph when she felt the chin vanish and a gust of wind rush over her leg indicating that the clone had been dispelled. Growling in annoyance she completed her backhand spring and landed to see that there wasn't another soul in the training ground.

"He left me." The irate genin seethed, however just as she was about to start hunting down her wayward sparring partner she felt his chakra signature flare to life just a ways off and growing closer at an alarming rate. At least it would have been alarming a month ago, she had grown accustomed to his chakra signature phasing in and out of existence as well as the insane speeds at which he moved. Turning to face the incoming blonde Ino laid in wait to tear into him for leaving her with a clone.

She didn't have to wait long as within a minute Naruto was suddenly standing in front of her holding two cartons of take out dango. Several seconds after he appeared the dust and wind he had kicked up in his mad dash slammed into them, sending Ino's hair into a frenzy of motion though Ino remained unmoving.

"I got lunch?" Naruto offered.

Ino just raised an eyebrow.

"I see that. Mind telling me how long I've been training with a clone."

Naruto shrugged.

"Only for about ten minutes. And don't get your panties in a bunch you know you're hungry."

Ino's stomach picked the opportune moment to make itself known as it released a rather unlady like growl causing Ino to blush.

Grinning Naruto walked over to a shaded area under a tree and patted the ground next to him.

"Come on, you know training now would be counter-productive with how tired you are." When he saw she was still glaring at him the blonde jinchuuriki shrugged and turned his attention to unpacking the food. "Fine more dango for me, and of course the box of sugar dumplings will be a nice dessert." Not two seconds after he said it he heard Ino scramble to sit next to him. Looking up and seeing the eager look on her face he couldn't help but chuckle. "That's more like it."

"Oh hush and hurry! And you better have not lied about those sugar dumplings."

Naruto laughed and pulled out the box of sweets, which were snatched from his hands. As the two blondes fell into a comfortable silence Naruto leaned back and took a moment to observe the girl that had come to occupy a majority of his thoughts. It was odd how easily they clicked, they had only been hanging around with one another for a month or so and yet they got along with one another so seamlessly it was as if they had been working together for ages. Grinning as he took another bite Naruto closed his eyes and enjoyed the presence of a kindred spirit.

_'Well as close as I can get.'_ Naruto thought bitterly. Letting the thought dampen his mood for a while longer he mulled over the ups and downs of letting Ino get so close to him. However once he ran out of food to eat he tossed the trash and the thought aside. Standing up and cracking his neck Naruto pat Ino on the head before strolling into the training ground.

"You enjoy your meal Ino-chan I'm gonna get some training in okay?"

"Mmhmm!" Ino mumbled around the mouthful of food she had. After swallowing she glared at the back of the blonde's head. "Just remember where I am this time!"

Naruto chuckled.

"Awww what's the matter Ino-chan? Don't want an Uzumaki style buzz cut?" A dango stick hitting the back of his head was his response. Laughing even harder Naruto just waved her off over his shoulder. "Don't worry I'll be sure my clones remember where you are."

Ino nodded to herself but still scooted closer to the tree, having come that close to Naruto's orange blade of death once before had taught her not to come near his training sessions when he cut loose. Grinning she couldn't help the feeling of pride at knowing she was the only one who ever saw him truly cut loose. Not the sort when he fought Asuma, but when he truly cut loose. Looking across the training ground she saw the starts of it. For starters he had kicked off his ninja sandals. She didn't know why he did that yet, but after he did he always seemed a bit taller. Secondly his chakra signature had grown to its full size, not what he usually let out during their training sessions, compared to this what he let out during team training was a but a tiny flame standing next to a blazing bonfire. She was still impressed that he could use his altered transformation in order to change the size of his chakra signature depending on how serious he was in his fight. When Ino saw Naruto summon his sword and toss it into the air she flared her own chakra in order to weaken what was to come.

It was imperceptible to the human eye but even an untrained civilian would have felt it as a flood of highly concentrated chakra surged outwards from Naruto's body. Like a raging beast the chakra tore through the air sending out a mini-shock wave, laying the grass flat and blowing any loose debris and dust to the wind. For several seconds the air in the training ground pulsed with energy as Naruto reveled in the feel of his own strength. At first the abundance of chakra had been a bother, but now that he had gotten used to the change it was like having another limb. In moments like this when he let it all out, let it course from him and fill the air around him, it's as if he were flexing and testing an arm he hadn't used in ages. Through the abundance of chakra that was in the air he could feel out his surroundings as if he were running his hands over every inch of the training ground. This intimate knowledge of his surroundings brought with it the knowledge that Ino was flaring her chakra in a desperate attempt to remain unaffected by his chakra as it filled the air. So much to his displeasure Naruto reeled the chakra back in and used his now inhuman reserves of chakra to magnify the shadow clone jutsu Naruto was rewarded with fifty clones popping into existence. The magnified justsu didn't make more shadow clones. Instead it made far fewer clones, though the new clones came with the advantage that they were far stronger and far more durable than the original shadow clones. These new clones could actually get cut and keep going, though instead of bleeding they simply leaked chakra until they disappeared from chakra loss as a regular human might die of blood loss. Reaching up and summoning his sword back to his hand from the prolonged flight Kyuubi had given the sword Naruto grinned as the moment the sword came in contact with his hand it reappeared in the hands of his clones.

_'Ready fox?'_ Naruto called out to the fox. The training was for more than just training his skills. It had taken a few nights but the two intertwined souls were slowly beginning to work on sharing Naruto's senses without one over-ridding the other. If Kyuubi fought too hard for control of the senses then Naruto would end up going deaf or blind depending on what sense Kyuubi concentrated on. If Naruto fought for control too hard then Kyuubi would be blocked out from the world and Kyuubi would be unable to cover Naruto's blind spots. That was another interesting thing the two had discovered after a few nights of tandem training. Though Kyuubi was confined to the sword he could 'see' in all directions at the same time allowing him to spot attacks Naruto would not have been able to see coming no matter how long he trained.

_**'Whenever you are kit.'**_

_'And this time don't forget to watch out for Ino.'_

_**'The girl should look out for herself.'**_ Kyuubi snorted.

_'Fox...'_ Naruto mentally growled at the fox even as the blonde lifted himself up off the ground and prepared to fight.

There was a long pause before Naruto finally heard the fox huff in resignation. **'Fine, I shall ensure the human does not get roughed up.'**

_'Thanks fox.'_ Naruto said before tuning his mind into the battle that was about to begin.

As soon as the oppressing aura left the area and Ino saw that the clones had been created Ino let her chakra reside and took several deep breaths. Shaking her head and trying to calm her heart rate she still had difficulty remaining unaffected by his chakra. The first time he had truly let his chakra run rampant it had knocked her unconscious. Even now that she had grown semi-accustomed to his chakra and learned to flare her chakra in order to stave off the affects she still could not escape the feeling. Whenever his chakra was fully unleashed she felt as if her mind was being assaulted by his thoughts, feelings, ideas, personality and characteristics as if they were all trying to imprint upon her through his chakra. Despite no longer blacking out from it whenever she was under the influence of his chakra she just knew what he was thinking. Usually he was simply enjoying the feel of his newfound chakra reserves, however this time he had been a bit worried about her safety and that someone, probably his clones, needed to pay more attention to where she was.

Snorting in annoyance Ino shook her head. _'Baka is rightfully worried, nearly cut my head off with that blade of death of his.'_ Ino mussed to herself with a grin on her face as she watched the fifty orange blurs dash around the place. She had long since lost track of which one was the real Naruto but it was still a sight to watch the blonde train. Leaning against the tree and enjoying her meal Ino thought over all she knew about chakra in an attempt to figure out why his chakra would have such an affect on her yet she kept drawing a blank. Even the extra knowledge she had due to her family's specialization in how chakra affects the mind left her grasping for answers. Under normal circumstances chakra, regardless of how much, should not affect a person unless the chakra was filled with killer intent. Yet there was no malice or ill intent present in Naruto's chakra despite it affecting her. It was just another aspect of the blonde that puzzled Ino.

_'Though puzzles are always fun to play with.' _Ino thought as her grin grew at the idea of spending more time with the energetic drop out turned hero.

**8888**

Flopping down onto a tree limb and summoning his sword in a reverse grip Naruto waited till the crimson red eyes appeared on the blade before he slammed the sword into the side of the tree. His guardian demon in place Naruto closed his eyes and snuggled against the tree. Waiting for his body to slow down. Ino had left several hours ago to go home and eat, saying that she needed to eat with her family every now and again. After her departure Naruto had hung around the training ground and trained for another hour or two before heading to Ichiraku's for a quick dinner. Now that he was full, tired and content with his day it was so easy to let the warm fuzzies lull him to sleep.

_**'You really do spend far to much time with that blonde girl.' **_Kyuubi mussed, stopping Naruto just short of sleep.

_'Mmmm. So what?'_

_**'Are you really going to put yourself through the torture of losing your precious people over and over again?'**_

_'I don't know. I mean I know that logically I should cut myself off from everyone to avoid that but I am tired of being lonely. Aren't you?'_

Naruto's mind was silent for a long stretch of time and he was beginning to think the fox was done talking, though the feel that the fox was thinking kept the blonde awake in case the beast spoke. Several minutes passed in total silence.

_**'Sleep kit, we will have a long time to discuss this matter.' **_The giant fox rumbled dismissively. He felt Naruto's annoyance at being shut out, but Kyuubi really could care less at the moment. Initially he had intended use the conversation to try and convince the blonde to distance himself from the girl, however the slight tingling in the back of his mind that something was amiss with their surroundings had shut the conversation down. Now he had only to wait for the blonde to fully fall asleep then the fox could take over the senses. It took only a few minutes of waiting for Naruto to doze off. _**'I truly need to teach this fool to be more perceptive of his surroundings.'**_ Kyuubi mused to himself even as he took full control of Naruto's senses and scoped out the surrounding forest. Whatever or whoever was in the surrounding area was good at staying hidden as no matter how hard Kyuubi tried to listen through Naruto's senses the boy's senses could not pick out where the intruder was or even what the intruder was. The only reason he was even aware something was off was due to Kyuubi's own senses that were just barely beginning to bleed into Naruto's body. In a decade or two when Naruto possessed all the senses, abilities and knowledge of Kyuubi it would be a simple task to locate and identify this intruder.

Within his cage Kyuubi growled in annoyance and opened his eyes. Now that he was not trying to manifest himself in the sword he was back in the cage and once again he was surrounded in absolute darkness with the only light coming from the sewer that was Naruto's mindscape. Turning his crimson red eyes to the seal and more importantly to the blade of the sword that was jutting out into his cage Kyuubi growled in frustration. Ever since this blade had appeared making any altercations to the blonde had become impossible. He could no longer change the blonde's chakra reserves, boost Naruto's healing factor or really do anything to the blonde's body. All he could do was wait for the sword to filter his traits into Naruto's body.

"**Infernal blade."** Kyuubi snapped before absentmindedly hurling a ball of chakra at the seal and the sword that was jutting outwards from it. To the beast's immense shock the instant his chakra touched the blade it froze in place, grew in size, turned into Naruto's blazing bluish white chakra and then moved through the gate vanishing as it moved through the gate. Kyuubi blinked in shock. Closing his eyes and manifesting within the sword Kyuubi saw through the sword that he was very lucky Naruto was a very heavy sleeper or else the blonde would have undoubtedly woken. The explosion of chakra had materialized in the physical plane of existence and blown through the tree and torn the trees on the other side to kingdom come.

Opening his eyes within the seal once more and looking at the sword in a different light Kyuubi felt as if the sword were smirking at him. But that was impossible. The sword was not sentient. Of that the fox was certain. He had examined and re-examined the blade a hundred times over to ensure that some other being was not trying to take up residence within Naruto's body. The blade was nothing more than Naruto's soul and Kyuubi's own soul given a physical form through seals...

"**No way..."** Kyuubi breathed, his eyes going wide in realization. Looking away from the sword and instead at the absolute darkness that was the seal of the Shinigami. The smirk had not come from the sword, nor had it come from the seal. It had come from the being that had created both and was watching over both. Shaking his head and turning his eyes back to the sword Kyuubi grinned at the challenge set before him. **"I have two of Shinigami-sama's most powerful seals working in synch. If I do not play this just right the kit and I are going to be screwed for all of eternity, however if I **_**do**_** play this just right..." **A deep rumble echoed through Kyuubi's cage as the giant fox laughed.

**8888**

Naruto blinked awake before looking around. Much to his dismay it was still dark out. Sighing and standing up Naruto pulled his sword out of the tree and called out to the fox with his mind. Within a few seconds the crimson red eyes appeared on the sword.

_'How long was I out?'_

_**'Five hours. Why?'**_

Naruto sighed in defeat and let his head drop. _'Because I don't sleep much anymore! It is odd only needing four or five hours of sleep at most. Do I even need to sleep anymore?'_

_**'Most certainly! Even I sleep. Sleep is crucial to the mind, without it your mind would begin to deteriorate. However you and I need far less sleep than humans as we only need sleep in order to rest our minds. Physically we could go for days on end and not suffer exhaustion. Hell I fought against the Pantheon Lord for three weeks straight before running out of steam.'**_

Naruto rolled his eyes and was about to dismiss the sword when he felt the fox's mood shift from formal and informational to something far more playful and sinister.

_**'That stamina is SO beneficial in the sack though. You can have an entire harem of vixens and outlast em all.'**_

For a moment Naruto didn't know what to say as vague memories of entire weeks spent in bed with a multitude of women flashed through his mind. Shaking his head and trying to separate his memories from the memories of Kyuubi Naruto growled in annoyance.

"Pervy-fox!" Naruto seethed as he hurled the sword through the woods and into a nearby stream. The entire time Kyuubi was roaring with laughter inside Naruto's mind. Huffing once Naruto leapt off the tree he was standing on and landed on the shore of the stream. He was just about to summon the sword back to him when the ground vibrated and the water pulsed as his pitch-black blade seemingly jumped out of the water using a blast of blue chakra. "The heck?"

_**'Interesting isn't it?' **_Kyuubi called out before using another surge of chakra to hurl the blade back at Naruto who dodged it on instinct. Having missed the blonde the blade clattered to the ground. _**'Though your chakra is unbelievably unwieldy. It takes far more of your chakra to do things than my chakra and it is a pain.'**_

_'Tell me about it.'_ Naruto scoffed as he summoned the sword back to him. _'Though if my chakra is so troublesome then why don't you use your own chakra to move the sword around?'_

_**'Can't. The sword does not allow my chakra to pass through, all it does is turn my chakra into your chakra.'**_

_'What are you talking about? Whenever I fight I use your chakra.'_

_**'No you don't...'**_

_'Yes I do.'_ Naruto said, cutting Kyuubi off mid explanation. 'Watch.' With a simple downwards sweep of the blade Naruto unleashed a wave of orange chakra that cut clean through the ground and the water. _'See?'_

Kyuubi sighed and shook his head.

_**'If you would let me finish I would explain.' **_Snapped the giant fox.

_'Fine fine, no need to get prissy.'_

_**'Now, as I was saying you are not using my chakra when you do that. The blade is converting you into me and me into you, so when you channel your chakra into the blade it is automatically changed into my chakra. That wave of chakra is yours, not mine.'**_

Naruto blinked and looked down at the sword.

"That is mine?" The blonde asked in morbid fascination. The idea that the demonic chakra belonged to him and not the fox was shocking. He had understood that the fox and him were slowly merging and slowly he would gain more of the fox's traits, but to actually see first hand that his chakra was turning demonic was unsettling. A chill went down his spine as the realization that he was slowly becoming less and less human.

Wrinkling his nose in annoyance at his morning being so morbid Naruto shook his head before deciding to ignore the development for now and instead focus on regaining his chakra control. Allowing the sword to vanish in a flash of orange light Naruto took a deep breath and channeled chakra out the base of his feet before attempting to walk out onto the surface of the stream. To his immense shock he didn't sink at all. In fact his chakra was sending ripples through the water as he walked across the water.

"Ha! I guess my chakra control wasn't as bad as I feared."

'_**Think again human.'**_ Kyuubi boomed shattering Naruto's concentration for a minute, though the blonde surprisingly managed to stay afloat.

He had splashed around a bit but Naruto was still standing. Growling at having the fox interrupt his training. _'What are you talking about? Look I can stand on the water easily. I mean I disrupt the water a bit but still, I am standing am I not?'_

'_**You are, but you are also cheating by using the transformation to keep your reserves at a relatively small size. Also you are only channeling chakra through your feet. You need to be able to be at your full strength while walking on the water and you need to be able to do it without disrupting the water.'**_

Naruto's head drooped. _'Fine fine, I'll give it a shot.' _Said the blonde even as he began to let the transformation fade and revert to his true form, the one he hid from the world to avoid the hell it would cause if the villagers saw. It had started a few nights after he had found the sword and it had merged with the spiral seal on his stomach. At first he had just thought he had a cramp in his shoulder and that his feet were sore. However after another few nights the changes had become more apparent. His feet had changed to be more lupine in shape so that now he walked solely on the front of his feet, not quite standing on his toes but rather on the soft pads on the front of his feet, and his feet had also narrowed in the back as his ankles had adjusted to the new method of walking. His shoulders had shifted in that they were no longer joined meaning he could move his arms in all directions independent of where the other arm was. Made scratching his back easy but it also meant that his shoulders had broadened giving him a larger frame than before. The last two changes were not quite as noticeable. The first being he had grown an inch or two, which the fox said was only the beginning of a monumental growth that ought to leave the blonde far taller than any of his comrades. The last change was that his teeth had gotten sharper and his jaw had realigned itself to accommodate the new teeth so that when he shut his mouth his teeth interlocked with one another. Made for a hell of a smile.

As Naruto felt the inner transformations begin and his chakra reserves begin to grow back to their now normal size he couldn't keep the grin off his face as the chakra poured out of him. Now that he was standing on the water the surge was far more visible as the chakra sent the water at Naruto's feet surging away from him in a spiral pattern. _'See what you meant fox, I am not walking on the water I am floating on it just like I do the ground.' _Naruto said dejectedly. Rolling in self-pity for a moment before accepting there was nothing to be done but to train and get his chakra back under control Naruto settled in for a long and undoubtedly frustrating session of training.

**8888**

Hours latter as Ino walked into the training ground she was a bit confused. She had felt Naruto's chakra from the village ever since she had woken up and it had continued as she got ready and made her way to the training grounds. She knew he was training, but he rarely ever went all out for long periods of time like this. Dashing through the trees as silently as she could she was determined to sneak up on the blonde and find out what exactly he was working on that would take so much chakra for such a long time.

**8888**

'_**You do know that the blonde girl is fast approaching right?' **_Kyuubi asked. He had been watching as Naruto had stood on the surface of the water and fought to stop disrupting the water with his chakra for the past three hours to no avail. However the giant fox also knew that the blonde feared the girl getting a good look at him in his true state. So in order to avoid drama later on the beast of chakra had spoken up in case his host had not noticed the blonde girl's presence.

'_I know, let her come. With as much chakra as I am pumping out at the moment she won't be able to get too close.'_

'_**Maybe not, but she will get a good look at you.'**_

'_Meh, it is unavoidable. I would rather her see it by my choice than during some hectic moment in battle where she might get the wrong idea.'_

'_**Oh?' **_Kyuubi mused. _**'And what might the right idea be?'**_

'_That despite the physical changes I have not changed. Were she to see the changes in battle it would paint them in a bloody light don't you think?'_

'_**My my, doth my ears deceive me? It almost sounded like you had some intellect for a moment.'**_

'_Bastard fox.' _Naruto mentally growled at the fox, though his heart wasn't in it. He knew that was just the fox's way of giving compliments. _'Anyways, it is about time I quit training and head over to the training ground. Asuma and Choji should be here soon.' _That said Naruto cut the mental link between the two of them and opened his eyes. His chakra was still surging out from his body, though now he had at least managed to stand on the water instead of floating above it. Now he just had to work on not disrupting the water as he stood on it. Turning and walking across the water he saw Ino's dumbstruck expression and couldn't help but grin.

"Morning Ino-chan! What's the matter? Fox got your tongue?"

Ino snapped out of her daze to glare at her fellow blonde.

"Okay whiskers, you better start explaining."

Naruto laughed and used a burst of chakra in his next step to launch him over Ino so that he landed behind her with his back up against a tree. As landed he made use of his transformation to change his chakra reserves back to something more manageable, though he left his outward appearance in tact so that Ino could still get a good look at the changes.

"Why, whatever have I to explain? I am nothing but an open book." Receiving a flat look from Ino Naruto couldn't help but crack up laughing. The innocent façade he had tried to maintain dropping almost instantly.

"Uh-huh, then since you are such an open book you won't mind telling me why your chakra has been flaring about for the past few hours, why you look so different, and how in blue blazes you were walking on water!?"

Naruto laughed and shrugged.

"Fine by me. The walking on water thing was a chakra exercise Ebisu, a closet pervert who trains the Konohamaru trio, taught me before the final part of the chunin exams. The reason my chakra has been flaring about is because I have been training, duh! Try not to give the rest of us blondes a bad name okay?"

"Jackass!" Ino seethed as she launched herself at Naruto.

Laughing and allowing the girl to tackle him Naruto continued to laugh even as she showered him with light blows, only putting up resistance to prevent her from hitting his face. Seeing that their play wrestling had brought them to a stop with Ino straddling him Naruto grinned up at her and put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "Ino my love, we cannot be seen like this no matter how brightly the fires of passion burn within us!" Naruto cried in mock shame even as he cracked an eye open to see that Ino had turned beet red. "Just imagine the things people would say! And …

"Alright! Alright!" Ino huffed as she got off the smirking blonde. "You are a grade A, prime example of a class clown."

"Why thank you," Naruto said, pausing to hop up off the ground with a grunt before continuing. "though I must admit that was the warmest welcome I have ever received from a pretty lady. Actually topped that congratulation kiss I got in Snow Country."

The training ground went dead silent.

"Excuse me?"

"What? Sakura never tell you about how I rescued a princess up there and she rewarded me with a hero's kiss? Huh, must have slipped her mind." Naruto mused to himself even as he started to walk away from Ino and towards the center of the training grounds where they were supposed to meet up with Asuma and Choji.

He made it two steps.

"Get back here whiskers!" Ino roared.

Grinning like a loon and lifting up off the ground he took off into the forest, keeping just ahead of the irate female in hot pursuit.

As the two of them neared the clearing in the middle of the training ground Naruto became aware that Asuma and Choji were already waiting for them. Growling in annoyance at having to shift his appearance Naruto transformed back into a normal state of appearance. Sadly the distraction slowed him down and the blonde that had been chasing him caught up to him just as they reached the clearing. With a shout Ino tackled him for the second time that morning though since he had been gliding when she tackled him it resulted in them rolling across the ground and into the clearing with Ino yet again ending up on top. This time however instead of being embarrassed by it she was far too angry to be embarrassed.

"Say that again!" Ino roared as she grabbed hold of Naruto's collar and began to shake the now laughing blonde. "I dare you to say it again!"

Naruto was laughing far too hard to respond so Asuma cut in before it could escalate.

"Ino while I am sure whatever he did deserves it we do need a fourth member on the team in order to complete missions so can you please leave him in tact?"

Ino huffed before hopping off Naruto who was still laughing.

Standing up and brushing the dirt off his clothes Naruto froze and dropped his head.

"Crap, I forgot about the mission today. I still need to pack. Can I meet you guys at the tower? I should get there a little after you guys."

Asuma sighed and nodded his head.

"Fine, hurry up and we will meet you there."

"Hai hai!" And with a final salute and a wink at Ino Naruto vanished in a blast of chakra.

Ino crossed her arms and glared in the general direction Naruto had gone.

"You two are still getting along as well as ever." Asuma teased.

Ino just huffed and started to walk towards the village, a smirk forming on her face as she began to walk. "At least we can contain ourselves, unlike you and Kurenai-sensei." Hearing her sensei choke on his cigarette Ino's smirk only grew.

**8888**

Team 10 stood at attention in front of the Hokage and all of the present members were praying the missing member would show up.

"So you nag at me for weeks on end that you want a higher grade mission, I give you a teammate to fill your team and you lose him? This does not speak well for your team."

Asuma opened his mouth to respond when the window opened and in popped the missing team member.

"Yo, what did I miss?" Naruto greeted as he slid in through the window.

"You missed your team getting chewed out for showing up to a mission brief without all members present." Tsunade snapped, more upset over how the boy had entered like Jiraiya than the fact that he was late.

Naruto waved her off and took his spot in line next to Ino.

"Ma ma, I was talking about important stuff."

Tsunade felt a vein on her forehead bulge to life as the urge to throttle the brat grew. Sighing and reigning in her temper for the sake of the room Tsunade pushed the button on her desk to signal the client in.

"In order to avoid me putting the gaki in orbit, I am just going to let the client bring you up to speed. She did request Naruto by name."

"Me?"

"She?

Naruto and Ino asked in perfect unison.

Before either of their questions could be answered they heard the door to the office open and so Team 10 turned around to be greeted to the sight of the world-renowned actress Yukie Fujikaze now better known as Koyuki Kazahana the queen of the Land of Snow. Though instead of wearing one of the overly dramatic and attention drawing dresses of theater or of royal note Koyuki was dressed much as when Naruto had first tracked her down. She wore a light blue shirt with a thick tan trench coat over it and a pair of simple black pants. Her hair was mostly the same only, the only difference being the ruby barrettes she wore to keep her bangs in place.

"Koyuki-hime! Long time no see!" Naruto said, a massive grin spreading across his face as he put his hands behind his head. "You keeping your country in line?"

Koyuki shook her head despite the smile on her face.

"You haven't changed at all Naruto, still as goofy and socially inept as I remember you."

"Hey!" Naruto raged, crosses his arms in indignation.

Koyuki giggled and walked up to the blonde to ruffle his hair. "So think you could spare the time to escort little ol me back to the Land of Snow again? I promise I won't run away this time."

Naruto snorted and shook her hand on his head.

"Even if you run you can't hide, I'd just haul your whine self back again. Besides don't you have some palace guard to escort you around?"

"No they are only for official business outside of the country, whenever I am moving about filming I am on my own for protection. Besides it isn't on the trip back that I am expecting trouble. The trouble, if there is any, will start once we get back."

"Oh don't tell me someone else is trying to take over!"

"No no nothing as extreme as that, but there are a few who are unhappy with my reign and might wish harm. The protection is for during the spring ball."

"Pardon me," Asuma said, interjecting into the conversation. "but why have a spring ball in the Land of Snow?"

"Because we are going to turn my father's machine back on. Ever since Naruto and his team left scientist in my country have been looking over my father's machine and trying to figure it out and they think they have figured it out. We don't have near enough material or power to turn the machine on for long, but if they have done all their calculations right then from what they have told me the Land of Snow will be able to experience a week of spring once every year. And so in honor of their work as well, as the work of my father, I created the spring ball. If the machine works then the spring ball will be an annual week long festival to celebrate their success and to inspire them to continue to try and improve the machine."

"So then you will need us to keep an eye on the machine to ensure no one tampers with it as well as protection against any enemy forces your political rivals may have hired?"

Koyuki nodded.

"Correct, it seemed a bit out of my palace guard's league so I figured on my way back I would hire some help. And who better than the team that helped me defeat Doto. Though where are Kakashi-san, Sakura-san and Sasuke-san?"

Naruto stepped to the side and gestured at the rest of Team 10.

"This is my new team! Sakura is training to be a medic Nin so she doesn't go on missions with me anymore. Sasuke is off training with someone and is currently out of the village. Without the two of them Kakashi-sensei and I had to find different teams to work on. So instead I have Team 10. First up is Asuma, son of the Third Hokage and a master of epic wind jutsu. We also have our heavy hitter Choji whose clan has these special jutsu that allow him to expand his body to gigantic proportions so that he can squash anyone. And lastly we have our technical expert Ino-chan who has all sorts of jutsu that can take your mind and make it her little puppet."

Koyuki giggled at the impromptu Naruto-styled introductions before giving a polite bow to the team.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. So then are you all ready to head out?"

"Yes mam, ready to head out whenever you are. Right team?" Asuma asked pointedly to which all eyes went to Naruto.

"Hey hey if I said I'm ready then I'm ready!"

"Then lets go, the caravan should be waiting for us at the front gate."

"Caravan?" Asuma questioned. Guarding one individual was an easy C-rank, guarding an entire caravan was another matter all together. He was fairly certain his team could take it but he just wanted to know just how thin they would be spread.

"Oh don't worry, it is only a small caravan for the filming crew." Koyuki assured Asuma before turning back to face Tsunade. "I send payment back with the team correct?"

"Correct, and please take your time with them. Keep them out of the village as long as you want or possibly can, there are two too many blondes around here."

"Amen to that!" Naruto cheered as he walked out the door. "Ba-chan and Ino-chan cause such a fuss. They are always yelling for one reason or another."

"Gaki!" Tsunade thundered and she hurled a kunai through the wall where Naruto ought to have been.

**8888**

"'It's just a small caravan' she says. 'Just for the film crew' she says. The film crew has more people in it than some of the villages I've come across." Asuma fumed under his breath. He had been expecting three or four wagons to make up the caravan. Not the twelve rolling vehicles his team was now charged with keeping tabs on. Though he should count his blessings. Had his team attempted to take his mission when Shikamaru was on the team they would have been hard pressed to cover all the blind spots up. With Naruto and his shadow clones however it was simplistic to cover the caravan. Ino was stationed at the back of the caravan watching their tail while Choji was stationed at the front of it so that the heavy hitter was up front he could stall the longest while the other members got there. Asuma was standing on the middle wagon ready to assist any of his team members in case trouble arose. And Naruto was wherever Naruto was. With all the blonde clones that were patrolling up and down the sides of the caravan as well as the two stationed on all the other wagons made it impossible to tell which was the real one. Though based upon the animated conversation Ino and one of the clones were having Asuma would have wagered that clone was the real Naruto.

Shaking his head the jounin pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

'_I'll leave them alone for now, but when the real part of the mission starts they need to get their heads in the game or we are gonna have issues. Flirting is cute in the village, on a mission it'll get someone killed.' _Keeping his thoughts to himself however Asuma contented himself with gazing up at the sky and enjoying the warmth of the sun. His father had always said the sun shined warmest in the Land of Fire. It was a cute sentiment but Asuma could already tell a storm was coming and it was bringing a cold front with it.

**8888**

"Whiskers, you tell a good story but you have to keep it at least _partially_ believable." Ino said with a smile. Naruto had just finished telling her the tale of his first mission in the Land of Snow and his story was unbelievable, literally.

"That is what really happened! I didn't lie at all I swear on my ninja way!"

Ino quirked and held up a hand, ticking off fingers as she went. "So you out ran a train, broke out of jail because you broke a seal through nothing but sheer will power, broke a chakra restraint because you have too much chakra, and made a rainbow colored rasengan? Really?"

"I did!"

"Uh-huh, sure."

"I did! And Koyuki-hime can testify to all but one of those."

"Which one?"

"The one where I busted the chakra restraint, I don't think she knows enough about chakra to understand exactly what happened." Naruto paused and thought about the odds that Koyuki understood chakra at all, figuring she probably didn't he shook his head. "Na I highly doubt it, but she saw all the others! Heck her whiny self is why I had to out run the train in the first place."

Ino laughed and patted Naruto's head.

"Whatever you say whiskers."

"Hmph, at least my team has gone on a ton of epic adventures."

"Oh please they should have been simple missions, you just have a knack for turning the most simple of task into an adventure. I wonder why that is?"

"Cause I'm so epic." Naruto stated plainly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well since you are so epic you and Ino along with your clones can take care of the watch for a while." Asuma said cutting into the conversation. Both blondes startled at his sudden appearance and jumped up. They had been so wrapped up in their conversation that had totally tuned out the outside world. Grinning as the two blondes tried to look innocent Asuma pointed over is shoulder with his thumb at Choji. "We are going in to get a bite and rest, you two get the first watch of the night. And be careful, I smell a storm coming so it might start raining soon."

"Awww, I hate the rain!" Ino moaned to which Naruto chuckled.

"Then head on in Ino-chan, I can cover the watch myself." Turning and looking at clones nearby Naruto grinned and called out to them. "We got this! Right boys?"

"Go jump off a cliff!" One clone responded while attempting to balance his sword on the tip of his nose.

"Drop dead!" Another called out while giving Naruto the bird.

"I wanna go in!" A final one whined out.

"Oh shut up, the lot of you!" Naruto responded before huffing and turning back to face his team, all of which were either laughing or grinning. "Anyways! I can handle the watch just fine."

"You sure?" Asuma questioned, not that he doubted the boy but he wanted to be certain it wouldn't jeopardize the safety of the caravan.

"I'm sure, Kakashi-sensei let me cover the entire caravan last time we escorted Koyuki-hime and it was twice the size of this one. I told you, I have this."

"Excuse me, but I am right here and I can decide for myself whether I go in or not." Ino bit out. "And besides if it is going to rain soon then I am not going to let you stand out here in the cold by yourself and get sick."

"I don't get sick and I never really get cold, not even in the Land of Snow. Now go in Ino-chan."

Ino opened her mouth to object when Asuma cut her off.

"He has a point, you _can_ get sick and it makes no sense for you to be out in this weather if it can be avoided."

"Fine." Ino huffed out before turning and storming off towards the carriage where they had been told food would be served.

Choji looked between the irate blonde girl and between his sensei. Seeing Asuma nod Choji followed after Ino anxious to get her back in a good mood before she got stuck in this one. He had seen it before, once she got in a certain mood it was nigh impossible to get her out of it until she was good and ready to come out of it.

Asuma and Naruto watched as the other two left. Once they were a good distance off Asuma faced Naruto with a serious look on his face.

"You do know that you are going to have to explain all these anomalies to her eventually right? She may not ask all of her questions right when they pop into her mind but she is a smart girl. She will notice the irregularities. She will have questions. She will store those questions up. And sooner or later she is going to get the answers to those questions. The only question is will she get them from you?"

Naruto sighed and nodded his head.

"I know, I know. But I mean how are you supposed to let someone know that you are host to the demon that ransacked the village fourteen years ago? I cannot think of one way to present that information that does not end up with her running away."

Asuma let out a breath and shook his head.

"I can't help you there I'm afraid. All I can say is the best of luck." Asuma called over his shoulder as he began to walk in the same direction Ino and Choji had gone just moments earlier. As he reached the end of the carriage they were standing on he paused. "Oh, and take it easy with the shadow clones. Don't want you hurting yourself."

Naruto blinked.

"Come again? I make twice this daily for training."

Asuma turned around with a look of bewilderment.  
>"Kakashi let you train like that!?"<p>

"Uh, ya?" Naruto responded unsure of what was so drastic about training with shadow clones. He had been doing that ever since he learned the jutsu.

Asuma shook his head.

"Why on earth would Kakashi do that?" Asuma asked more to himself than to Naruto. "Or better yet, why would you do that of your own accord?"

"Because my clones make good sparring partners?"

"Aren't you worried about the mental backlash?"

"…."

"You're kidding. You don't know the details of the shadow clone jutsu?"

"I learned it in under an hour after stealing the forbidden scroll from the Hokage's tower, I didn't exactly have time to read the fine print. So what exactly is it that I am missing."

"The shadow clone jutsu not only makes physically solid copies of the user, but when the clones are dispelled all of their memories and returned to the user. The jutsu was initially used to put people behind enemy lines to gather information without endangering the user. You are one of the few people I have ever seen that uses the jutsu in combat."

"Wait a minute, so then whenever I am training with my clones not only am I getting my own experience from the training but I am also get the experience the clones gained?"

"Correct, which is why so many people tried using the jutsu to speed up their training. However they found out a side affect of the jutsu. If too many clones are kept in play for long periods of time and then dispelled the user is killed because their mind cannot handle the onslaught of memories. Which is why I don't want you keeping to many clones active to guard the caravan."

Naruto paled and nodded only to freeze when he felt the fox wake up.

'_**You can tell the human that he need not worry. With me around you can have as many clones as you want out for as long as you want and it won't kill you. It might knock you flat on your ass for a while and give you a headache from hell but it won't kill you.'**_

'_Ah, okay nice to know. Thanks fox.'_

Instead of receiving any sort of confirmation that Kyuubi had heard him all Naruto got was a feeling that the beast was going back to sleep. Turning his attention back to Asuma who was looking at him in curiosity Naruto chuckled ad scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that, the furbal had something to say. And apparently thanks to the furbal the mental backlash can't affect me any more than give me a headache."

Asuma quirked an eyebrow.  
>"You and the fox are on speaking terms? Since when?"<p>

"Since," Naruto started as he held his hand up and summoned his sword into existence before continuing. "this lovely thing attached to my soul and opened up a link of communication between us. The fox can't do much more than speak to me but yeah we are on speaking terms."

"And Tsunade-sama?"

"Ba-chan knows about it, she keeps trying to call Pervy sage back so he can examine the seal but the old hermit is taking forever to respond." It was still so easy to lie. Internally Naruto berated himself for lying to his instructor but on the outside his face betrayed nothing but calm assurance. He knew how to lie and he knew how to do it well. The skill was worth the weight of an Akimichi in gold on the street and Naruto had been wise enough to invest in it.

"Alright, well so long as she is aware of the situation. Now I better head in before Choji eats all the food. See you in a few hours."

Naruto waved the man off before turning around.

'_So clones speed up training huh?' _Naruto mused to himself as he formed the cross seal and created another thirty or forty clones. _'Wish I had known that sooner or I would have used the clones for chakra training. Ah well better late than never. So what are we working on today fox?'_

Silence reigned supreme throughout Naruto's mind as he awaited a response from the fox. Yet none was forthcoming. For a solid ten minutes the demon said nothing.

'_Oi! Fox! You awake?'_

'_**Go choke the damned sword.'**_

Naruto blinked in shock. The fox had been hostile before, but this was different.

'_Um excuse me but why the hell are you in such a sour mood? Sleep on the wrong side of the seal?'_

'_**Moronic human humor.' **_Kyuubi snapped.

Feeling the fox had retreated within the seal and was not going to talk Naruto growled in annoyance. Looking back over the caravan and figuring his clones had it taken care of Naruto jumped as far off into the woods as he could without using chakra before taking off into the woods by hopping from tree to tree. If it weren't for Asuma he would have simply used a surge of chakra to get away but not knowing how the bearded jounin would react left Naruto with no choice but to slip away unnoticed. Once he was a good distance from the caravan Naruto used a single quick pulse of chakra to launch himself even further from the caravan.

As he fell from the air he aimed towards a clearing in the trees. The instant he landed he summoned his sword and hurled it at a nearby rock which had a flat a surface that the sword stuck in. However instead of simply embedding into the rock the sword sunk up to the hilt before orange chakra poured out of the sword hilt to cover the smooth surface of the rock. Once the rock was covered the chakra flashed once before dissipating to reveal a portal to Kyuubi's cage. The bars were still in place however Naruto could now clearly see the fox.

"The heck?"

Kyuubi himself was dumbfounded by the portal that had opened up. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that the sword could be used to bring him back to the physical plane of existence.  
><strong>"Someone needs to start a business of harvesting your shit."<strong>

"What?"

"**You shit luck so someone needs to start harvesting it and selling it. They'd make a fortune."**

Naruto shook his head and glared at the fox. "Whatever, why are you in such a sour mood furbal? Hmmm? Get your tails in a knot or something?"

"**No, I am annoyed that despite my warnings you are still letting that girl get close to you. Are you really so stupid? She is going to die! And then where will that leave you? Alone, angry and more than likely unstable. You will be weak and I refuse to look weak."**

"So then it is still all about you huh? No care about the fact that it will tear me up when Ino dies? As for looking weak, I am sure you looked so big and bad when you were so lonely that Madara could turn you into his own little puppet"

"**Yes it is all about me! I am the one who has enemies that are so strong you cannot even begin to imagine what would happen if they came here. Besides it wouldn't tear you up if you kept her at a distance! And don't you DARE speak of that man to me as if you know about him. You know nothing!"**

"I know that I have seen what happens when I am alone and I have seen what happens when I lose people. Ya it will hurt, but the pain of losing people is nothing compared to the pain of living a life of self inflicted exile and solitude. Your loneliness made you weak, my friends make me strong. Maybe in a century or two we will try things your way, but for now I am in charge and so we are doings things my way."

Kyuubi growled low and narrowed his eyes, rage turning his eyes a darker shade of red than any Naruto had ever seen before. The water in the cage actually shook from the violence of Kyuubi's growl. With a final snort Kyuubi grinned. This grin however was far more similar to the grins he had given when Naruto had first stumbled into the seal courtesy of Jiraiya.

"**That is what you think."** With that said Kyuubi hurled a ball of chakra through the seal, without the sword in place to convert the chakra into Naruto's chakra the sword passed through the bars of the seal and into the physical realm.

Naruto jumped back in fright expecting the chakra blast to harm him. Instead however the chakra ball only flew a foot or two out from the portal and then froze. Looking back through the portal and seeing the fox had his eyes closed in concentration Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"What are you doing fox?"

Instead of answering Kyuubi worked to make the chakra respond to his will. With the seal still limiting him even maintaining the chakra was proving to be difficult. However he wasn't feared for nothing. Even with this seal he knew he could still do what he had in mind.

Sure enough after a moment or two of concentration the ball of crimson red chakra compressed into a ball the size of a walnut, turned white and then turned translucent. Once that was done the ball expanded outwards faster than Naruto could track. Yet the wave of chakra didn't affect anything it touched, even Naruto's body was left in tact. The wave of chakra fazed through everything and spread outwards in all directions indefinitely until the ground waves were out of site. Yet Naruto could still see the wave extended upwards far into the sky.

Narrowing his eyes Naruto turned to glare at the fox who was now smirking.

"What did you just do?"

"**You seem to enjoy allies so I merely made you a few more."**

"Meaning?"

Kyuubi laughed but shook his massive head.

"**Don't you think you should be getting back to the caravan soon?"**

Naruto's lips twitched as Naruto fought to stop himself from shouting at the fox. Knowing the fox had won this round Naruto summoned the sword back to his hand and watched as the portal slowly shut leaving the blonde alone in the forest. "Bastard fox." Naruto mumbled under his breath, knowing that what ever Kyuubi had done would come back to bite him in the butt later. For now however he did need to get back to the caravan. Crouching down and using as big a charge of chakra as he dared Naruto launched himself over the trees towards the caravan and the road they had been on. Once he was back on the road he took off down the road in hopes of catching up with the caravan before anyone noticed he had been gone.


	5. Burning Snow

**Yo! Long time no update huh? Well no excuses aside from my own laziness and business this time so I figured I'd make up for it by posting a double length chapter. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Impure Perfection**

* * *

><p><strong>Burning Snow<strong>

"Ugh, playing watchman sucks." Naruto groaned out even as he fought to keep his attention on scanning the horizon for any possibly hostile ships. The blonde youth was currently perched up in the crow's nest of the ship they were using to get to the Land of Snow. Down beneath him the deck of the ship was bustling with activity. Koyuki and her film crew were working to shoot a scene for their movie while the opportunity of being at sea was available, and the scene they were trying to create was taking the entire deck. Around this mess of cameras, props, and actors was the ship crew members that were trying to keep the ship running without getting in the way of the filming. Mixed into the jumble was Choji, who was fighting a horrid case of seasickness, Ino and Asuma.

Amusingly enough Ino had some how been worked into the film and was being rushed from place to place being given a crash course in how she was supposed to look, speak, and act. While she was being rushed around and lectured she was also trying to lean the few lines she had been given and at the same time hold still for the make up artist. Poor girl was quickly becoming disenchanted with the idea of being an actress. Naruto laughed as he watched the costume designer try and snatch a scarlet faced Ino out of her clothes and stuff her into some costume he had apparently re-sized for her.

A smack to the back of the head cut Naruto's laughter short.

"A lookout is supposed to look outwards from the ship, not gaze down at the ship." Asuma scolded.

Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that Asuma. Watch duty has never been my favorite."

"I know, but it is still something you need to work on. So, I will sit up here and keep you company. You check the bow, I'll watch the stern."

"…. Huh?"

Asuma sighed and shook his head.

"You watch the front and I'll watch the back."

"Oh! Why didn't you just say that?"

"I did. Take it you didn't learn any nautical terms last time you were at sea."

"Na not really. Wanna teach me!?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Laughing Asuma nodded.

"Sure, sure. The four sides of the ship are bow, stern, port, and starboard. Now, usually…."

**8888**

Slipping past the slumbering jounin and genin in the twilight hours of the morning the shadowed figure couldn't keep the grin off his face

It was hard sneaking around the ninja, especially the jounin. Even when they were asleep jounin had a higher level of awareness than most civilians. However, it was easy for a ninja of his skill. Especially with the genin snoring so loudly that he smothered all but the loudest of sounds. Made slipping through much easier.

Easing the door open and slipping out into the hall Naruto finally released the breath he had been holding. After shutting the door behind him he eased down the hall as quietly as possible so as to not disturb anyone but his intended target. Reaching Ino's door he slid the door open and crept inside. He couldn't help smiling softly at the sight of seeing her curled up, her hair in a mess now that it was free from its usual ponytail, and a soft snore reaching his ears. Tip toeing forward and softly shaking her he watched as consciousness slowly entered her mind. Sleep filled platinum blue eyes slowly cracked open.

"Whiskers?" Ino mumbled.

Naruto smiled and resisted the urge to reach out and move her hair from her face.

"Morning Ino-chan, come on I have something I want to show you. It looks amazing when you are at sea." Naruto whispered despite the enthusiasm in his voice.

Ino groaned and flopped back into bed as her eyes shut.

"Ugh, go back to sleep whiskers. We can catch it later." Ino mumbled out in her state of semi-consciousness as she snuggled back into her covers.

Naruto stared in confusion for a few moments as Ino drifted back off to sleep. Was that it? A 'we'll catch it later' was all she needed to dismiss him before comfortably going back to sleep? Well that stung a bit. Letting out a sigh as his shoulders sagged in defeat Naruto forced himself to move despite the ball of disappointment that had jaggedly lanced through his chest and was now settling in his stomach. Naruto stalked across the room and out the door as silently as possible so as to not disturb the contently slumbering girl. Shutting the door he sighed once more.

'_Finally get the courage up to tell her and I get dismissed. Now what am I supposed to do?'_

"Naruto? What are you doing up this early" A feminine and familiar voice called out.

'_Hello distraction!'_

**8888**

Ino sauntered out onto the deck several hours after sunrise and walked to the very front of the massive ship. Though yesterday had physically been a breeze compared to shinobi training it was mentally exhausting and she still felt a bit sluggish. She had the odd memory of Naruto appearing in her room in the early hours of the morning. However, after not seeing the boy anywhere on the ship she dismissed it as a dream. At least she did until peels of gleeful bell-like laughter caused her to look around till her eyes came to rest on the sight of Koyuki and Naruto curled up in the crow's nest.

Naruto was siting with his back against the mast and legs spread out so that his toes were just touching the edge of the crow's nest. Koyuki was sitting between his legs at the very edge of the crow's nest with her legs dangling off the edge while her arms were wrapped around one of the post of the railing. The two of them were obviously oblivious to everything but the other's company as they gazed out over the sea. Undoubtedly Naruto was regaling the princess with some fantastic story or other.

And for some reason that raised Ino's hackles.

Before she could fume over the scene or even react to it someone shouted out that land was insight.

Ignoring the shout Ino watched instead as Naruto effortlessly scooped Koyuki up in his arms and somersaulted over the railing eliciting a shout of terror from the princess. Typical of the blonde he only laughed before using a flood of chakra to slow their descent so that he could set her down without jarring her. The princess glared at him and hit him before huffing and letting the grin creep out. Only as the two bantered on deck did Ino take note of their attire. Naruto was shockingly dressed in nothing but his orange pants and the first hokage's necklace; his toned chest and stomach were on display for all to see. Koyuki was dressed in nothing but a simple green robe. It was almost as if the two of them had come out here just after rolling out of bed.

As Koyuki waved farewell to Naruto and headed off to get dressed Ino got the feeling she had missed something.

"Oh, hey Ino-chan! You ready to see the Land of Snow experience spring?"

"Yes." The irate blonde bit out. "Aren't you cold without your shirt?"

"Hmm?" Naruto asked as he looked down at his chest only to blink when he realized he in fact was missing his shirt. "Oh, hehe oops. Must have forgotten it. Ah well the cold doesn't really bug me."

Ino rolled her eyes at the boy and turned away.

"Baka, we are sailing past glaciers and you think it feels nice out here. I am freezing."

Naruto chuckled and stood beside her.

"Don't worry. Once they turn on Koyuki-hime's dad's machine it will warm up plenty."

"Uh-huh, sure. Just go get dressed baka."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her rather stand off-ish attitude but said nothing and merely walked off with a wave over his shoulder.

Ino waited for him to be fully out of sight before she let out a huff and crossed her arms, now sulking properly. Whatever seeing the two of them sharing a private moment together might have done it certainly put her in a sour mood. And so she sulked as was her right. When she heard Asuma come on deck, pause, and then go to the other side of the deck she knew he was a smart person. Sadly Choji was not so educated in the ways of women and so made the poor choice of greeting her. Though the fact he was finally not looking green staved off the womanly wrath he had unintentionally set himself up for.

"Hey Ino." He greeted, the trademark bag of potato chips missing along with the usually cheery disposition he usually had.

"Hey Choji. You're feeling better I see. Think you finally got over your seasickness?"

The tubby kid shook his head and instead put his hand over his stomach with a forlorn sigh.

"No, I just haven't eaten in so long I no longer have anything to heave. I still feel sick but since I know nothing will come up I am fine."

Ino winced and patted the poor guy on the back.

"I'm sorry, at least we are near land. We should be off by breakfast!" Ino said trying to cheer the boy up. And it was true, they were so close to the land now that the docks had become perceptible and the people walking along the docks were slowly becoming discernible as well. They would probably be docked within the next hour or so. Sadly the mention of food only served to make him turn green.

"Ugh, I think I am gonna go lie down until we get to land." Choji mumbled out as he clutched his stomach and turned around to head back under deck. However, a blonde and orange blur running past him caused him to pause and turn around to watch as Naruto sprinted off the front of the boat using a surge of chakra to leap a great distance from the boat. Ino and Choji, along with the entire crew, watched as the energetic boy seemed to dive belly first into the frigid seas. Though just before Naruto actually impacted with the water a palpable surge of chakra erupted from Naruto sending out shockwaves across the water and keeping his body inches above the water as he hovered in place for a moment. Then he become an invisible blur as he shot across the surface of the water with nothing but the stream of water kicked up in his wake to indicate where he was.

"That kid really does have too much chakra for his own good." Asuma mumbled causing both Ino and Choji to jump. Neither of them had sensed his appearance due to Naruto's overwhelming chakra signature, which was still zipping about the place. "We could have entered all but undetected if he hadn't done this, but now any ninja above genin within a mile of here will know we are here. And even the civilians will spread the word that we are here. All for a useless show."

"A calculated show actually." Naruto said from right behind Asuma causing the jounin to jump. "The entire crew already knew my face so it was obvious we were here. But watch, the clone _is_ putting on a show so we ought to watch."

So, doing as the enigmatic blonde said, the rest of the team turned to watch the clone. Up until now the clone had been simply darting about the place in random zig-zag patterns cutting angles beyond what any ship could hope to match. Now it was making grand circles around the ship. However, in a flash it changed course and made a circle so close to the ship that the stream of water kicked up in the clone's wake sprayed those on deck. As it completed the circle a dozen other clones popped into existence around the ship preventing anyone from even approaching the ship without their say so. Once the final circle was complete the clone paused in front of ship for but a moment before leaping back up to the crow's nest with a final burst of chakra that also served to create more clones along all the rigging of the ship. Asuma, Choji, and Ino could only look at the newly created clones for a moment before their attention was shifted to the shore where an audience was applauding the show. And, as if on cue, Koyuki stepped on deck a moment after the applause began so that whenever the audience saw her they could only applaud louder.

Ino turned to look at Asuma who was grinning and nodding.

"Very good Naruto, very good. Stealth was blown so a show of strength to dissuade as many as possible before we even dock was a good idea." Asuma conceded before continuing. "However, that also could have been a bad thing."

"Huh? How so?" Naruto asked, utterly and honestly perplexed as to how a show of strength could have negative consequences.

"Because Koyuki now seems flashy, which some might see as superficial or superfluous. Also, you have now outshined anything the local guard might be capable of doing which will take a toll on their moral. Lastly you will have given any opposition an idea of who is present and how powerful we might be so they won't be near as likely to underestimate us."

"Oh." Naruto mumbled out, embarrassed and a bit humbled. "Should I have not done that?"

"Now I didn't say that. I am simply making you aware of the possible consequences. If you hadn't done that then there might have been more opposition to be quelled later and others might have seen us as weak, which is both good and bad. I am just trying to show you that either way there are ups and downs, and before you act you have to consider the pros and cons of each option. Since you already made the show we will roll with what comes our way."

"Ah, gotcha Asuma-sensei."

The bearded jounin blinked.

"Sensei? A month and a half of working with me, and you never once called me sensei. Why now?"

"Well I mean you just taught me something, so that makes you a sensei no? I didn't call you sensei before because I hadn't learned anything yet. But now I have so you are officially my sensei!"

Asuma chuckled and shook his head.

"A bit of an odd way of doing things, but alright time to get down to business. Since you already have your clones out work yourself in amongst them and keep an eye on the crowd as well as Koyuki, and have one of the clones stick with us. Ino, Choji, and I will stick with Koyuki and act as bodyguards till we reach the castle. Got it?"

"Hai hai Asuma-sensei!" Naruto saluted before substituting himself with one of his clones.

**8888**

"And so without further adieu, let the festival begin!" Koyuki shouted even as she shot a flare into the sky.

The flare was a signal to the technicians to turn the machine on, and sure enough not five minutes later a wave of warmth swept through the country. It was so sudden and so abrupt it was as if someone had flipped a switch. Thanks to the opening ceremony being held on a terrace overlooking a wide mountain range the change was displayed beautifully.

The whiteness that had previously covered the mountains was being swept away by an invisible force and being replaced by a luscious green of life and fertility spotted with several pockets of color as flowers bloomed in appreciation of the sudden wave of warmth. Many in the audience who hadn't seen the change last time, and had merely seen the after effects, gasped at the display. It truly was a remarkable demonstration of technological wonder.

Koyuki's gaze, however, was not on the changing landscape, but rather observing the many faces of the crowd. She was watching their reactions to her father's invention and it was not disappointing. At that moment she felt so proud of her father's work and truly appreciated all the sacrifices that had been made to bring about this change. A few of the older and more seasoned amongst the crowd smiled at the display, but they, like Koyuki herself, knew that the momentary change from perpetual winter was not sufficient yet to be much more than an interesting sight. The hope in their eyes was enough for Koyuki to believe that even the elders would approve the increased funding for research into the machine.

As Koyuki continued to let her eyes roam over the crowd she couldn't help but smirk at the looks of shock on the faces of her ninja bodyguards. At least, the faces of the bodyguards she could pick out. The blonde haired girl, the tubby boy and the jounin Koyuki could all pick out. Her personal favorite ninja on the other hand was conspicuously absent from the crowd. That in and of itself was the most startling thing because she knew he had at least a dozen or so clones scattered about. Yet all of them were seemingly missing.

'_Ah well, the show must go on.'_ And so dismissing the missing blonde boy Koyuki kicked off the festival.

**8888**

Asuma smirked as he watched Ino huff again. Shaking his head he finally asked the question he had been avoiding asking for the past week. He knew the answer, but it still had to be asked because frankly the girl's sulking was getting to be a bit much.

"What is eating you?"

"Naruto hasn't shown up in a week! This awesome festival is going on and there is enough of us to cover the whole place and still have time to enjoy the festival, and that baka is avoiding me! I bet he is probably out enjoying the festival with Koyuki." The last sentence had been mumbled under her breath but Asuma still caught it.

"Actually, he has been running surveillance this entire time while I let you and Choji enjoy the festival a bit."

Ino blinked and turned her head owlishly to gape at her sensei.

"He hasn't enjoyed the festivities any? Why?"

"According to him he has 'already been there, done that' and so he figured he would let you enjoy it instead." Asuma's smirk grew as he watched the girl shrink in on herself in embarrassment. Taking pity on the poor girl Asuma let out a sharp whistle watching the crowd. Sure enough four different people that Asuma could see paused and glanced at him before nodding. Some how communicating between themselves to figure out which one of the four would be it they finally settled on one and the poor sap slunk off into an alley. Not ten seconds later Naruto seemingly dropped out of thin air.

"Yo, what's up Asuma-sensei?"

"Nothing serious. Ino here was merely wondering where you were, and I figured you have been running surveillance for the entire week so Choji and I will work with your clones to cover the place. You and Ino enjoy the last little bit before the snow kicks in. If the spring last for exactly a week then the snow should be back in a few minutes." Turning to go Asuma paused to smirk over his shoulder. "Oh, and behave you two. No sneaking off to dark corners for untold activities." Laughing as the two blondes blushed furiously Asuma relished having a couple to tease for a moment before he vanished to track down Choji and begin watching the crowds. So far nothing had gone wrong at the festival, but Asuma could only hope it would continue for the last stretch.

**8888**

"Pervy sensei!" Naruto shouted at the retreating figure of Asuma before shaking his head. "I swear, every sensei I have ever had has turned out to either be a blatant pervert, or is a closet super perv." Giving a final snort Naruto turned to face his fellow blonde. "Anyways, so where to Ino-chan?"

"I don't know? I have already explored the place, so where do you want to go?"

"Hmmm, well I saw a stand a little ways down selling these delectable sweets. Wanna snag some before we head back to the terrace for the closing ceremony?"

"Sure!" Ino chimed; glad she would finally be getting to enjoy the festival with him. Even if it was just the last little bit. "But how do you know where and when the closing ceremony is going to be. Or even that there is going to be one? I didn't know there was going to be one."

"Oh well you see…" Pausing to loop his arm through hers Naruto dodged around a rather intoxicated couple who were half dancing half having sex with clothes on. "I have thirty or forty clones mixed in to the crowd, have had them there the entire week actually, and every so often one of them will dispel to give me an update of every thing. Turns out that if I create a batch of clones, leave them out for a long time, and just one of them dispels then I learn everything all of the clones from that same batch have learned since they were created. Saves me the trouble of having to constantly create a new batch of clones. Anyways, one of my clones has been staying with Koyuki the entire time so I 'heard' her talk about the closing ceremony."

"You and your clones." Ino said before smiling and shaking. The two continued on towards the sweet stand laughing and talking about the festival and about life in general. Once they had their treats and were once again meandering through the crowds the conversation slowed a bit and Ino took the advantage of finishing her treat first to lean her head on Naruto's shoulder. However, due to his shortness it left her neck bent at an odd angle. "Ugh, I forget you aren't taller than me."

In answer to her complaint Ino felt Naruto's shoulder suddenly rise five or six inches to give her a more comfortable perch. Blinking and glancing up at the boy who was smirking down at her Ino couldn't help but laugh.

"Is that better my oh so fussy princess?"

Ino snorted but laid her head back on his shoulder nonetheless. "Yes it is." She playfully snapped back. Though a moment later she poked him in the side. "But no calling me princess. My daddy does that."

"Uh, okay." Naruto said with a shiver as he wrinkled his nose. "Definitely a no no."

Ino giggled and nodded.

"Good. Though, you do kind of spoil me like my dad does."

"Oh? And how do I do that?"

"Well, for starters you have always paid for my meals and even the snacks we just bought. But on top of that you let me see all sorts of things you don't let others. You let me see you truly train when you keep that sort of thing hidden from everyone. Not to mention you let me see you as you really are. I mean with how liberally you use that transformation trick of yours you could become anyone or anything, yet you let me see the real you." Ino paused in contemplation for a moment. "At least I think that was the real you. Was that the real you in the training ground that one time?"

"Yeah, that was the real me you saw."

"So what all happened? I mean the few times I have watched you train recently I have noticed a couple changes, but that last time there was a lot I hadn't noticed before. So what all changed?"

Naruto sighed and used his free hand to point out the changes as he let them shine through. "My eyes are the most obvious." He said as he pointed to his eyes which had gained a crimson red ring outlining the inner cerulean ring. Moving his hands down to his feet which were slowly morphing he continued. "And my feet changed as well so that I walk a bit differently. Makes wearing shoes a pain, but it is more than worth it for the boost I get in controlling my movement. Lastly we have my shoulders. You probably can't see it but my shoulder blades have changed a bit so that I am more limber. Aside from that I haven't really been able to pick up any other changes."

"Aside from your teeth." Ino pointed out with a smirk to which Naruto merely rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Aside from my teeth, but I can't really show that off in public without setting off a riot. Heck, if we were back home my eyes would have set off a riot." Naruto mumbled.

Ino's ears perked up at that tidbit of info. Why were crimson eyes such a taboo in the village? Taking the snipit of information and tucking it away Ino grinned. If he wouldn't tell her directly then she would just have to figure it out on her own. Puzzles always were so much fun.

She was so lost in her thoughts she took no notice of Naruto watching her intently.

'_Asuma-sensei was right. She really is too smart for me to keep it a secret.' _The thought that he would either have to tell her soon, or end up having her find out of her own accord slammed into the boy. Asuma had told him but it had never really been so apparent just how quickly the girl might be able to figure him out. All the sneak peeks he had given her suddenly didn't seem like they had been such a wise move.

As the two blondes got lost in their own thoughts they continued to absentmindedly meander through the crowd. Their shinobi training kicked in and ran their bodies for them allowing them to effortlessly weave through the mob a crowd without ever losing hold on the other. Before the two knew it they were standing on the terrace looking out over the green mountainside under the light of the full moon arm in arm with one another. To any one observing they looked like the perfect example of young pure love. And to one soul that was a very interesting detail.

"There you two are!" Koyuki called out as she came up behind the two and unknowingly snapped them out of their thoughts. "I was just about to begin the closing ceremony and wanted to have you guys with me. I already managed to round up your charming sensei and your other teammate, so you ready to join us? Or do you two lovebirds need a few more minutes?" Koyuki teased as she gave their still interlocked arms a meaningful look that had the two teens jumping apart. Ino had a tinge of pink creeping up her cheeks. Naruto, however, had no blush. Instead he seemed nervous about something else entirely as he looked away quickly and seemingly shrank several inches.

"Hehe, yeah we will be right behind you Koyuki-hime."

The princess quirked an eyebrow at the odd behavior. Simply chalking it up to Naruto's natural peculiarity Koyuki turned and left the two teens to their own business as she continued to play the game of politics with the others who had the privilege of being on the terrace for the closing ceremony.

"It really is amazing how quickly you can do that." Ino stated as the pair slowly rejoined the stream of people.

"Do what?"

"Hide your true self."

"Do it long enough and it becomes natural." Naruto said with a sad smile.

Ino blinked at that. However, before she could really take the conversation any further Asuma and Choji joined back up with them reforming the team in its entirety for the first time in a week.

"All right team. This will be the last little bit of the mission. After the closing ceremony and the princess retires for the night we will have successfully completed our end of the bargain. Tomorrow we will be headed home." Receiving nothing but groans from the trio of genin Asuma grinned and held his hands up. "Now now, just because the princess will have retired from the festivities does not mean you can't enjoy them a bit later. Just remember we will be rising early tomorrow." That earned a bit more of a positive response as Ino and Choji started to plan what to do for the rest of the night. Chuckling Asuma took Naruto aside. "And since we are so close to finishing the mission you can go ahead and have your clones dispel. I have checked everyone here over twice. There are no foreign chakra signatures and no one here means Koyuki any harm. Heck, half the people here seem to worship the ground she walks on. Is that just from her acting, or was Doto really that horrid of a ruler before her?"

Naruto nodded and sent out the mental command for the clones to begin dispelling as discreetly as possible.

"He really was. But her popularity is probably due to her own ruling and personality as much as it the due to the fact she is a better ruler than Gato. She was extremely cold when I first met her, but over the week we have been here and I have been observing how she interacts with everyone it looks like she has warmed up as much as the machine warms the nation. She treats even the most mundane of things as if they were the single most important thing in her life, and everyone loves her for it. She connects with the people in a way that reminds me of the Old man. Not quite as wise or as seasoned as the Old man, but she has the heart."

"And having the right heart is half the battle to being a good leader." Asuma said as he quoted his something his father had once told him.

"Asuma-san!" A voice called out catching both Naruto and Asuma's attention as a grinning grew haired old man approached the two of them. "Did I hear right? Are you really going to leave so soon after the festival ends?"

Warning bells went off in Asuma's head. Only Team Ten should have heard that unless someone had been listening in on them. Being cautious but assuming the man had merely overheard the earlier conversation Asuma put a placating grin on his face.

"Well, we do need to get back to the village. This was enough of a vacation that I doubt we really need recovery time before we head back. I mean, with no fighting we are all at full strength." The last was said with just the slightest of killer intent to intimidate the man in the case he truly was a threat.

However, the old man just grinned and nodded. Apparently he was too much of a civilian to detect the chakra.

"Well then I shall say my farewells now." The old man said as he pat Asuma on the shoulder before grinning and starting to walk away. "At my age staying up for the later festivities is not an option. Farewell Asuma-san, thank you for guarding our Princess." And with that the old man walked away.

"Strange old man." Asuma mumbled, consciously running his hands over the area where the man had touched his shoulder to check if the man had planted anything. Satisfied there was nothing there Asuma relaxed in time to for the two of them to witness as snow began to fall from the sky once more.

"Well, looks like the machine finally ran out." Naruto said as he tilted his head back and let the snow land on his face.

"As did your time!" A voice boomed out.

Naruto snapped to attention and braced for a fight as did Asuma. Despite being ready for combat neither of the two were ready for the world to sudden phase out of existence. All sight and sound vanished leaving them in a void of nothingness. At least partially.

Asuma could tell that six high level chakra signatures had appeared out of seemingly no where, and one of them was casting a huge genjutsu that had the entire festival trapped in the same black nothingness. He was moving to break the genjutsu when a sharp piercing pain shot through his shoulder as an seventh chakra signature appeared behind him As far as he could tell the man hadn't actually stabbed him, but rather the individual had strapped something onto him that was draining him of his chakra. And it was draining it fast. Falling to his knees Asuma couldn't help the gasp of pain as the contraption electrocuted him to force his instincts to use chakra to protect himself. Sadly the machine took that chakra as well leaving Asuma with just enough chakra to live. But not enough for him to stay conscious.

Naruto on the other hand knew nothing about the people appearing on his own. Instead, he summoned his sword and let the fox see for him.

And apparently he did so just in time. Because not a second latter Kyuubi shouted, _**'Kit move!' **_

Doing as instructed Naruto threw himself to the right and felt something graze his shoulder. Whirling around Naruto dropped into a ready stance and despite being blind did his best to face the direction the attack had come from.

'_Fox! What is going on?'_

'_**Best I can tell someone cast a massive genjutsu over the entire crowd. A man with purple hair covered in odd machines that are radiating chakra just strapped some devise on Asuma. The device seems to have totally taken him out of the game. And now Mr. Purple seems hell bent on getting one of those devices on you. He is at your ten o'clock.'**_

'_Got it.' _Naruto responded as he corrected his aim. _'And Ino-chan and Choji? Are either of them able to fight?'_

'_**Tubby is down for the count as well. Though they just knocked him out rather than strap a device on him.'**_

'_What about Ino-chan? Where is she?' _Naruto asked trying to keep the growing sense of panic from making him lose focus.

'_**I don't know. I don't see…. Oh shit. Hold up. I am gonna purge your system. Cause you need to see this.'**_

Before Naruto could ask what the fox meant by 'purging' a flood of caustic red chakra exploded from his core flushing his system and shattering the genjutsu. Blinking from the shock of suddenly getting his sight back Naruto was dazed for a moment before his eyes focused on the horrid sight before him.

Ino was on her knees with her hands bound behind her with ninja wire. Behind her stood the purple haired man who had fought along side Doto. The one Kakashi had killed.

Apparently the man saw the confusion on Naruto's face as he grinned and nodded.

"I see you recognize me. And before you ask, yes I managed to survive your sensei's attack thanks to the chakra armor I now where. However, you will find that all of that information is irrelevant at the moment. All that truly matters is the fact that you are going to get on your knees and surrender right now." The man moved a kunai to Ino's throat. "Or else your girl is going to die a lot sooner than she needs to."

Ice cold terror flooded Naruto's system forcing his senses to heighten. At the same time a blistering fury began to seep into his body and fuel him with power. Without even thinking about it the transformation designed to keep his more feral features hidden dropped. Including the part that masked his chakra. In a torrent Naruto's chakra exploded from his body rendering all the civilians unconscious. The only people left standing were the enemy ninja thanks to their chakra armor, and Ino who had flared her chakra the moment she saw Naruto's transformation drop. Another thing Naruto was unaware of was the fact his eyes, which had been cerulean blue with an outer ring of red, had shifted so that the red and blue merged to form a bright shade of purple that seemed to glow from within.

Nadare felt fear numb his limbs for a second before he forced himself to calm and stay in control. Lightly drawing the kunai half way across Ino's neck to create a decent little cut that produced blood within seconds Nadare smirked as Naruto froze.

"Don't move!" Nadare commanded before Naruto could get over his fear and retaliate. "If you so much as twitch the girl is dead! Now, get rid of your sword and kneel. Slowly!"

Though Naruto yearned to lunge at the man and tear him limb from limb, the blood seeping from the shallow cut on Ino's throat told him to do otherwise. Forcing his body to move slowly Naruto let the sword clatter to the ground and willed it to stay in existence instead of simply flashing back to the seal. Taking a breath and lowering himself to his knees Naruto shifted his gaze from Nadare to Ino. He couldn't help the grin on his face at seeing she wasn't crying. She was meeting his gaze without a hint of fear. Heck, she had nothing but fire and loathing in her eyes as she glared up at her captor.

However, Naruto's grin was interpreted my Nadare as overconfidence. So, what better way to snuff confidence out than with loss of life? With a final smirk Nadare slashed the kunai the rest of the way across Ino's neck causing the girl to shriek in pain as she fell to the ground. Blood began to pool around her since she was unable to stem the flow of the blood thanks to her hands being bound. Nadare looked up from his work expecting to see a devastated and terror stricken brat who had just gotten a taste of the real world. He was not expecting the chakra infused fist that slammed into his chest and shattered one of the chakra tanks on his armor. The combination of the punch and the chakra tank rupturing sent Nadare flying across the terrace. He would have flown completely off had one of his companions not caught him. Standing back up he prepared to slaughter the little snot that dared to interfere with his plans.

Naruto, however, paid no mind to the man. His entire focus was on Ino. Without even thinking about it Naruto had used a burst of chakra between his fingers to snap the wire binding Ino's hands. Though that was for nothing more than ease of moving her as she was already unconscious from blood loss. Tearing the sleeve off his jumpsuit and pressing it to the wound helplessly Naruto couldn't help the utter panic that was setting in. He was a fighter. Dealing out damage and attacking is what he did. Not healing. The only way he knew to protect someone was to kill the threat before it got to them. But this? He was worthless here! Knowing nothing better to do Naruto went to give her blood pills when he realized she couldn't even swallow. Just as the panic was beginning to reduce him to nothing but a sobbing mess Kyuubi's voice boomed inside his head.

'**Kit, Calm down! We can still save her!'**

'_B-but her throa…' _Naruto started to argue before Kyuubi cut him off.

'_**He didn't truly slash through it! He pulled it most of the way across before he slashed it, so at worst her windpipe was scratched. She still has a pulse so he obviously didn't cut one of the major arteries. Now shut up and listen!' **_Kyuubi snapped out. The damage may not be serious, but he knew he still needed to get Naruto moving if he was to save the girl. The thought that he could just let the girl die crossed his mind but he tried to shake it. _**'Concentrate all of your chakra, and I mean ALL of it to your palm, and press it against the cut. Our chakras mixed together should both cauterize the wound, and serve to heal it a bit. It will leave a scar but at least she will live.'**_

Naruto didn't even respond to the fox. Instead he immediately set about gathering every scrap of chakra he had into his palm. At first it was just like making a rasengan, but after a moment of gathering his chakra to his palm his hand actually began to burn from excess chakra.

'_That enough?'_

'_**No, more.'**_Kyuubi demanded and Naruto wordlessly obliged by redoubling his efforts. Soon his hand was shrouded by a bright purple flame of chakra that got brighter and brighter as more chakra gathered.

Sadly for the two souls working to save Ino's life the foes were not stationary during their actions. Nadare took advantage of Naruto's distracted state and started to walk towards the boy. However, before he made it two steps Naruto's sword seemingly flung itself across the terrace to embed itself in the wood in front of Nadare.

'_**That will have to do kit, now hold it against the cut and keep it there no matter how much she might squirm. And ignore the smell of burning flesh. That is supposed to happen. I will buy us a second or two more.'**_

"Heh, cute trick but you missed brat." Nadare sneered as he went to walk past the blade. He ate those words when the sword once again threw itself at him. This time the blade actually managed to leave a shallow cut in his armor before he could duck out of the way. Growling in rage he slammed his foot on the ground and sent a wave of ice out that froze the sword in place. Smirking he began to walk past the blade once more. He was surprised once again, however, when the blade suddenly unleashed a huge gout of blue chakra. Leaping backwards to avoid the blast Nadare glared at the sword for a moment before turning to glare at his comrades. "What is the matter with you!?" He screamed at them as his temper flared in frustration. "Kill him!"

From within the blade Kyuubi cursed his luck. He had been hoping the ignorant human would continue to make a fool of himself by not calling on his associates. _**'Ah well, lasted longer than it should have so I'll take what I can get.' **_Willing the blade back to Naruto's side Kyuubi took a look at Naruto's work. It looked hideous. Beyond hideous really. Either Nadare had expected the girl to live and cut her to deliberately leave the worst possible scar, or he was the worst executioner of all time. But the girl would live, and as far as Kyuubi was concerned that was all that mattered. _**'That will do kit.'**_

Naruto stopped the chakra but still sat lifelessly as he stared at Ino's unconscious body. At least, he did until Nadare spoke.

"Awww how sad. Did your pathetic attempts just kill her even faster? How pathetic to think the likes of you killed Doto."

The rage and fury came back ten fold. What had been a burning ember in the pit of Naruto's stomach ruptured and pure hatred poured out filling Naruto's veins with a fire that yearned to be dowsed in blood.

"Pathetic?" Naruto growled out as he set Ino down. Content she was comfortable Naruto summoned his sword back to him without bothering to stand up. With a surge of chakra Naruto vanished from his spot beside Ino and reappeared on the other side of the terrace with his sword buried up to the hilt in the chest of one of Nadare's men. Spinning and using his shoulder for leverage Naruto forced the blade the rest of the way up through the man cutting clean through his head. Before the body could even fall to the ground a female member of Nadare's group launched a wall of ice kunai at Naruto. Without even looking at the girl Naruto thrust a fist in her direction sending a wall of imperceptible purple chakra that plowed through the wall of ice kunai and slammed full force into the girl. The force behind the impact was so great that it caved in her entire chest forcing a jet of blood to erupt from her mouth even as the attack launched her clear across the terrace where she slammed into a column and was crushed into a bloody pulp.

Seeing two of his comrades killed so mercilessly the closest bandit to Naruto gave a shout of fury and rushed the blonde. As he rushed the bandit activated the weapons on his wrist and forearm. Ten steel plates with serrated edges popped off each of the mechanisms. Using chakra strings the man swung his arms downwards turning his arms into immense cat-o-nine tails.

Naruto used another surge of chakra to move around the bandit even as the bandit's attack tore into the ground where Naruto had been standing moments ago. Naruto brought his blade down on the man's unprotected back but surprisingly the man detached another part of his armor that had been covering his shoulder and used chakra strings to move it into Naruto's path. The force behind the block was enough to actually reverse the direction of Naruto's swing. However, Naruto merely went with the change of direction and used another bust of chakra to spin himself clockwise to slash upwards and remove the man's left arm before the man could fully turn around. The blood-crazed blonde slashed downwards and was just about to cleave the man in half when a spear of ice erupted from the ground to his right and aimed to pierce his arm before he could strike the bandit down. Smirking at the futile attempt Naruto sent a burst of chakra from the tip of the sword to accelerate the swing so that he carved clean through the man from head to toe. Following through with the swing and ducking to avoid the ice spear Naruto spun counter clockwise and unleashed a purple wave of chakra at the bandit that had tried to impale him. Luckily the bandit had quick reflexes and managed to leap out of the way of the purple arc of death.

Nadare watched in horror as the brat wasted three of his heaviest hitters in only a matter of seconds. Grinding his teeth in frustration he was forced to change his plans.

"Retreat to the forest! Now!" Nadare ordered even as he used an ice shushin to leave the area as fast as possible.

The other three didn't need to be told twice and quickly vanished as well.

Naruto blinked in confusion as his prey vanished from before him. Growling in rage and unleashing a torrent of chakra he threw his head back and unleashed a bestial howl that resounded through the entire village and the nearby woods. Thoughts of waking his team were not to be found in his mind. The enemy had nearly killed one of his precious people. They were his prey, and his prey alone. Scanning the forest with his glowing purple eyes and sniffing the wind for even a hint of the elusive prey Naruto had to wait only a minute before he caught the sweet scent of fear. Grinning and taking off into the forest Naruto missed the pair of black eyes that opened to watch him vanish.

**8888**

"The hell was that?!" Nitomi hissed at Nadare as the group moved through the woods. "Huh?! You said that at best the kid would have some strong chakra attacks. You said nothing about having a sword, or being freakishly fast!"

"I took out the jounin did I not? And besides, the little snot did use chakra attacks." Nadare retorted hotly. Insubordination was one thing he could not stomach.

Nitomi only scoffed.

"Ya, one that had enough force behind it to make our armor worthless!"

Nadare ground his teeth and sent a scathing glare at the girl to shut her up. She merely huffed at him and tuned away. Sadly since she was only five foot four she looked more laughable than fearsome. Nitomi was the sole remaining female of the bunch. She was a short woman with light blue hair and even lighter blue eyes that seemed almost crystalline. Having unblemished alabaster skin only added to her title of 'Ice Queen' in battle. She wore a white skintight thermal suit that had two shinning orbs on the back of her hands. One orb shone with a deep crimson red light, the other with a pale white light.

"I hate to agree with the bitch, but that kids attacks did technically make this supposedly indestructible armor worthless." That souring consentment came from Nadare's left. The one who had voiced the complaint was Klein. He was the main funder of the operation and therefor was less battle hardened than the other members. Luckily his natural body build made up for the difference. Standing at a hulking six and a half feet with broad shoulders and ample muscle he was a brute in battle. His attire matched Nitomi in that it was white skintight armor, however, it differed in that he had five glowing orbs. One on each shoulder, and three more on his chest in a triangular patter. The two on his shoulders were both glowing a light brown color while the three on his chest were more varied. One was white like Nitomi, one was a brilliant shade of blue, and the last was oddly glowing a vibrant purple. The last one held a slight scratch across the top of the orb. "And after all the money I sank into this operation I at least want to come out with four of the suits in tact so I can sell them. We can always try again later."

"That is so cowardly!" A final voice boomed out to which Nadare had to grin. The boisterous individual was the final remaining member. Looking nearly identical to Klien was his brother Hamiel. The only major difference between the two was that Hamiel had a large scar running from the right side of his forehead to the base of his chin only barely missing his eye. Another minor difference was that where Klien had chakra tanks of various colors Hamiel had chakra tanks that were all the same deep crimson as Nitomi's. And the fact Hamiel was glaring venomously at his brother. "It is nothing but a little brat who surprised us! We will not run away from such a puny little punk. All of us still have all of our chakra tanks, and since the now deceased Yuuki was the one to cast the genjutsu none of us have even begun to tire ourselves out. We can easily handle a mere genin."

Nadare grinned and nodded.

"We most certainly can, and will. You will gain all of your money back when we have seized control of the country." The leader assured as he brought the group to a halt on the ground. "Now, you three stay here and set up an ambush for him. I will move on ahead and set up another ambush. If yours fails then fall back and lead him into mine." Nadare ordered and was about to depart when he saw Klien moving to leave. Cursing his luck and the man to hell Nadare darted in front of the man. "Where do you think you are going?"

"Home. I am done with this fool mission. You three can go get yourselves killed. I have the suit and that alone will sell for a fortune."

"You are going no where!" Nadare shouted. However, before he could even move to intercept the man the white chakra tank flashed for a moment before Klien vanished in a gust of wind. "GET BACK HERE!" Nadare shouted at the sky even though he knew it was futile. Having access to that much wind chakra would put Klien far away by now. "Worthless coward! Fine, you two stay here and set up for the brat. You two should be more than ample to handle the little snot." Without another word Nadare took of into the woods.

Nitomi saw that Hamiel was staring at the spot his brother had been.

"Come on you big baby." Nitomi teased with a wink before jumping up into the trees.

**8888**

"Ino! Come on Ino, wake up. Please wake up!" Choji pleaded as he tried to rouse the girl. Asuma was kneeling down on the other side of their unconscious team member checking her vitals. A bone chilling howl had roused Choji from his sleep moments ago and as soon as he had realized what had happened he had ripped the strange device off of Asuma and given him a soldier pill to try and replenish his chakra reserves. After that the two of them had noticed Ino and were now trying to revive her.

However, the one thing that had Choji so terrified was the scar on Ino's neck. It was huge and hideous. The scar began in the middle of her neck just above her collarbone, and it ran three inches to the right side of her throat stopping an inch beneath her cheekbone. The scar was a jagged mess of knotted tissue that was blackish purple. It looked almost like a burn.

"She is going to be fine Choji." Asuma's voice called out snapping Choji from his examination of the scar. "I don't know how she got this, or how she survived the cut, but she will be fine. She just lost a good bit of blood. As you can see." Asuma mumbled the last bit as he gestured to the puddle of drying blood that they had found Ino in. "Anyways," The jounin continued as he finished up on inspecting Ino for further injury and gave her a blood pill to help. "help me see if we can figure out what happened. Last thing I remember was that someone had cast a major genjutsu over the entire crowd and that seven ninja had appeared. The genjutsu has obviously been broken, but then why is everyone unconscious?"

"Well…" Choji started, the unease in his voice alerting Asuma that something was immensely wrong. "You only have four more ninja to worry about. At least, I think."

"You think?" Asuma questioned as he stood up and turned to see what Choji was looking at. He went white at the sight. Two full grown men were neatly carved up and lying in puddles of blood and gore with one leaking a mass of purple from what remained of his head.

"Yeah, cause I think _that_ is someone else."

That, turned out to be a mess of flesh, blood, and bone that was splattered against a column. The gore was mostly concentrated around the base of the column, but apparently the person, if it was a person, had slammed into the column with enough force to splatter blood half way up the column. The only thing that really indicated that the gore had been a person was the remains of a head full of midnight black hair.

Asuma cringed at the sight. He had seen gore like this before during the last Great War, but the sights had been repressed over time till they were only phantom memories. This, this was fresh and this was easily on par with anything he had ever seen. Luckily he had been hardened to tolerate this stuff already.

Choji was not so lucky. The poor boy lost the food he had eaten throughout the festival.

Sighing and pinching his nose Asuma shut his eyes in an effort to stem off the oncoming headache as well as to give him an excuse to look away from the gore. For several minutes Asuma just stood there and tried to let Choji recover.

"Alright, before we wake the civilians up from whatever knocked them out we need to get this cleared up as best as possible."

"What about Naruto?"

Asuma's eyes widened. He had forgotten about the other blonde.

"Crap, where did he go?"

"Uh, well. I saw him take off into the woods. A horrid sound woke me up and I woke up just in time to see Naruto take off into the woods. And, his chakra was unlike anything I've ever seen."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how he can mask his chakra signature when we are in the city and then let it out during training? I think he was even masking it during our training sessions because what I felt when I woke up made his normal chakra signature seem like nothing. It was," Choji swallowed and shook his head before continuing. "it was inhuman. Not even your dad had that much chakra."

Asuma blinked at that. How could that be true? The moment he had realized Naruto was absent he had done a scan of the area to see if he could pick up on Naruto's chakra signature. Yet, as per usual the blonde had dropped totally off the radar. Was he purposely doing this, or was he actually dead? The blonde was such an enigma that things that ought to be a constant, like his chakra signature, were never the same for long. It made the boy hell for whoever was unfortunate to be his opponent, but it also made it difficult to operate as a team with him. No wonder Tsunade had wanted to check their compatibility first.

Luckily he found out where Naruto was a moment later when suddenly three massive chakra surges occurred all at once. One was obviously Naruto's. The primal energy and distinctive potency of it couldn't belong to anyone but the blonde. The other two were mysteries. Instead of the chakra signatures having the feel of any one person, they had the feel of an element. As if the chakra being released was purely elemental. But that would be impossible. No matter how much chakra a person might convert into elemental chakra there would still be remnants of their own unaltered chakra present. At least that is how it was supposed to be.

Sadly finding out where Naruto was and how he was doing came at the cost of rousing the civilians from their slumber. As per usual, Naruto's chakra signature was flaring so intensely that even the civilians could sense it, and what little instincts they had were telling them to get up and be alert. Usually happened when any being encountered something infinitely more powerful.

Muttering a curse as he saw the civilians begin to wake Asuma quickly cast a minor genjutsu over the gore-covered column. It took the wind out of him and he saw spots dance behind his vision at the loss of chakra, which quickly reminded him that he had no chakra to spare. This meant he did not have the chakra to cast the same jutsu over the body parts. So moments later when the first people to wake up laid eyes on the mess of flesh and blood they screamed. Panic began to spread like a wildfire. Before the panic could get totally out of control Asuma turned to ensure Ino didn't get trampled on.

Only Ino wasn't there any more.

"The hell!?" Asuma shouted as he quickly scanned the area for her chakra signature. Thankfully her chakra signature didn't change like Naruto's and he was able to pinpoint where she was relatively quickly. The fool girl was headed off into the woods in the same direction where Naruto's chakra emanating from. Asuma ground his teeth and forced himself to calm. Insubordination and acting without orders is what got people killed in battle, and Ino and Naruto both were obviously acting of their own accords. Asuma could excuse Naruto's actions. The boy was engaged in battle and probably had been the entire time. Ino on the other hand was way off course. She ought to either be resting from her injury, or helping control the panic and keeping the princess safe. Not running off to check on Naruto when she was obviously of no use in battle at the moment.

Making a mental note to scold the two later Asuma turned to Choji who was standing by helping the princess to her feet.

"Choji, Ino apparently woke up and has enough strength to move of her own because she is slowly moving through the woods after Naruto." Asuma saw Choji's eyes widen and held his hand up to stave of the boy's obvious request. "No. We cannot go after her. I have almost no chakra so I cannot pursue them, and I also cannot protect the princess by myself. Keeping her safe is still our primary concern. Naruto, who I am guessing dealt with these three, can obviously handle himself and Ino is smart enough to stay out of his way. Now, since you have the most firepower at the moment take the princes to a secure spot and keep her there. I will try and calm everyone down. And possibly clean up this…."

Asuma trailed off as one of the mysterious chakra signatures was suddenly snuffed out of existence. Though, that wasn't what had caught his attention. What had caught his attention was the fact that the second mysterious chakra signature suddenly doubled in size and a massive dragon of fire easily the size of a boss summons formed far off in the distance. Asuma would have moved to go help Naruto if a second later the dragon had not launched itself at something in the woods and exploded a moment later. Almost as quickly as the mysterious chakra signature began to grow it began to shrink, and then suddenly it vanished all together.

"What in the world is going on Asuma-sensei? I have never seen any fire jutsu like that."

"Choji, at this point your guess is as good as mine. We will have to get Naruto to fill us in on the detail later. For now just focus on the task at hand. Whatever may happen out there just worry about protecting Koyuki. We will worry about Ino and Naruto if we ever see one of them launch a flare."

Choji looked out in the forest for a moment more, worry written all across his face, but a moment later he turned away and steeled himself. Nodding the tubby lad moved himself and Koyuki, presumably towards the castle where it would be safest.

Asuma waited until Choji was out of sight before setting to work.

**8888**

Naruto looked down at the remains of the two ninja who had ambushed him and grinned. The girl had given him far more trouble than the guy. The man had been extremely strong but slow, and his movement had been too choppy for him to even get near Naruto. Not to mention Naruto was virtually fireproof thanks to the fox so all the fire in the world would be useless against Naruto at the moment. Even that massive fire dragon had done nothing more than burn off Naruto's jacket, shirt, and the bottom half of his pants.

The girl on the other hand had been a pain to handle. The moment she had seen that the man's fire attacks were worthless she had discarded the red chakra tank on her left hand. After that she had started drawing from the white one and unleashing wind jutsu unlike anything Naruto had ever seen. If even one of those had caught him he would be dead by now. Luckily having a second set of eyes had kept him just ahead of the flurry of spiraling wind scythes the girl had unleashed. Though, Naruto had never been able to move fast enough to catch up to her wind enhanced speed. Instead he had simply lured the guy into throwing large enough fire attacks that eventually he caught the girl instead of him. At that point the guy had gone ballistic and spent the remaining three chakra tanks forming that final fire dragon. Naruto had laughed, walked through it as it exploded on him, and then removed the man's head from his shoulders. He obviously hadn't been using it so no need for him to keep it.

Now Naruto was left with a headless body at his feet, and a deep fried corpse lying somewhere back in the woods. But neither of them was who Naruto was truly after. No, his prey was still hiding somewhere in the woods. Closing his eyes and sniffing the air once more Naruto waited patiently for the winds to bring him that which he sought. Sure enough after sniffing the air long enough Naruto caught the scent of his prey. Grinning as his shimmering purple eyes snapped open Naruto flashed through the woods.

It took a minute or two of gliding through the woods at top speed for Naruto to near his prey. However, before long Naruto came across his prey. Nadare. Yet, oddly the man was simply standing in the middle of the forest seemingly waiting him. Heeding the warning bells in his head Naruto came to a halt a distance away from the suspicious man. Now that he was actually focused on the man and not on Ino he couldn't help but notice the differences from the last time Naruto had seen the man. His hair was far lighter now than it had been last time, and his frame held a bit more bulk to it. On top of that he wore far more armor than any of the others Naruto had killed. He wore the same skintight white suit, but on top of that he had black steel breastplates, shoulder guards, and grieves. He also had far more chakra tanks than all the others. Where as the men had had five chakra tanks at most, Nadare had a grand total of twelve chakra tanks. He had six on his chest and stomach looking like some sort of mechanical six pack as well as one on each of his shoulders, one on each hand, and two more on his back. Yet, just like the man that had made the massive fire dragon all of Nadare's chakra tanks were the same color. All twelve of his chakra tanks shone the same vibrant white color.

"You know," Nadare began. "I was actually beginning to think you had gained some skill since the last time we met. Then you walked into my trap and I realized you are still the same stupid brat I remember." Nadare ran through a string of hand seals as the two chakra tanks on his back drained into the jutsu. "**Wind Style: Artic Breeze Barrier**"Nadare intoned as he threw his hand outwards and a gale of wind rushed past him. The bursts of wind were so concentrated that Naruto watched as the two twin streams of air shot out to the left and the right a good hundred yards before both turned in synch with one another so as to form a perfect circle.

Right as Naruto was about to question the effects of the so-called barrier the circle of wind suddenly expanded upwards so that a cyclone was surrounding them. The two of them were now trapped in the eye of a tornado of white wind.

Naruto just smirked.

"So now I am locked in here with you? Perfect." The blonde rumbled as he held his hand out and summoned his blade in a flash of orange light.

"That's what you think brat!" Nadare declared as he began to run through hand seals once more. This time when he finished three more chakra tanks drained into fueling the jutsu. "**Mass Snow Clone Jutsu**" In a massive plume of smoke three to four hundred clones formed from the thin layer of snow that had developed since this all had began. "Face your death brat!" Nadare shouted as wicked gleam entered his eyes.

"Really? Really?" Naruto deadpanned. "Dude, I bloody invented the tactic of 'endlessly spam clones till enemy is dead'" Grinning and forming the cross handseal Naruto smirked at Nadare who was glaring at him from across the clone filled clearing. "But, if you want me to show you how it is properly done I'll be glad to give you the crash course. **Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.**"Another plume of smoke easily twice as large as the previous one erupted as a thousand shadow clones all popped into existence. "Attack!" Naruto shouted as he stood tall and waved his hand forward as if he were a general.

And so began the clone wars.

**8888**

Ino panted as she ran through the woods. Her throat hurt like hell and she was fairly certain that her body was suffering from blood loss, but she had to at the least keep an eye on Naruto. Even if she didn't fight along side him she could keep an eye on him and call for help if he needed it. Knowing that fool he wouldn't even think to call for help until it was far too late. And so here she was chasing after him as quickly as she could. The instant Naruto's chakra signature, as well as two other signatures, flared into existence to her left Ino took cover in a tree and tried to see the battle through the trees. However, all she managed to see was a blonde blur dashing back and forth all over the place chasing after a white blur that seemed to be hurling blades of wind. There was also a much slower moving man who was hurling dozens of fire styled attacks at Naruto. Though, oddly enough those weren't the attacks Naruto seemed the most concerned about. Rather it was as if Naruto was simply walking through the fire attacks.

The blonde observer couldn't help but grin as she watched Naruto use the man's fire attacks to hit the white blur he had been chasing. It was such a quick and clever use of the substitution jutsu only someone as nutty as Naruto would have thought to use it. However, Ino's glee died when she watched the man suddenly create a dragon of fire that was easily twice the size of the hokage building. The heat radiating off the dragon was so intense that any of the snow that had managed to accumulate in the area instantly evaporated. Ino tried to shield her face from the heat as she poked her head out from behind the tree to see how Naruto was handling the overpowering attack. Oddly the blonde was just standing there awaiting the attack. And a second later the behemoth of fire roared and lunged at Naruto where it exploded in an immense shower of smoke and ash.

It took several moments for the smoke to clear enough for Ino to see the outcome. When the smoke finally did clear the platinum blonde couldn't believe what she saw. Naruto was standing in the exact same spot. His shirt was burnt clean off and the bottom half of his pants had been charred off, but other than that he was perfectly fine. The fire hurling man, on the other hand, was standing a few feet away from Naruto panting. That last attack had apparently taken everything out of him. And apparently Naruto didn't care to wait for the man to regain his breath.

In a flash Naruto closed the gap between them and slashed the man's head clean off his shoulders.

Ino's eyes widened in horror at the sight. She knew ninja life was brutal, and she knew that killing was part of the job. But to see the goofy blonde calmly and effortlessly relieve a man of his head was appalling. There stood the boy no one had expected much of standing over the body of a chunin or higher ninja, and it didn't even seem to bother him. The fact his sword was covered in blood and that same blood was splattered half way up his forearm didn't even register with Naruto. Instead Naruto had his eyes closed and was sniffing the air as if he were in a bakery enjoying the aroma. A moment later his eyes snapped open and he took off into the woods with another burst of chakra.

Grunting at having to move again Ino forced herself up and gave chase. Unlike last time, which only took a moment of running through the trees, this time Naruto kept moving for quite a good distance. And with the difference in speed between her and him that meant that Naruto was still a good ways off when he finally came to a halt. Ino buckled down and tired to go faster in hopes of getting there before anything happened, however, before she could get very far a massive white cone of wind erupted in the exact spot Naruto's chakra signature had been coming from. By the time Ino reached the cone of wind she could feel huge amounts of chakra being expended from within the wall of wind. Working on a hunch Ino throw a kunai at the wall of wind and watched as it was immediately repelled by the winds.

"Well Whiskers, looks like this is as close as I can get. Go get em."

**8888**

Naruto glared at Nadare who was smirking at him.

"What's the matter squirt? I thought you were gonna give me crash course on how to properly do this. Don't tell me you are tiring out already. I am just getting started!"

"Na na, just waiting on my second wind. Cause I mean I didn't just tear through your entire entourage or anything." Naruto mocked as he fought to catch his breath. For the past hour he and Nadare had been throwing masses of clones at one another. Nadare didn't create near as many snow clones as Naruto made of shadow clones, but the snow clones were able to regenerate unless totally destroyed so it took longer to kill the blasted things. And while Naruto had more chakra than he rightly ought to even he had his limits. Forcing himself to stand straight up instead of hunched over sucking in air he gestured for Nadare to continue. "Come on, let's get this on with. You have what, one more wave in you? If that? Each wave cost you three of those chakra tanks, and you only have the one on your hand left so you ought to be out soon."

Nadare laughed and nodded.

"My my, you do have some intelligence. However, who said I was going to use more clones? Time to finish this! **Wind Style: Hydra Arm.**" Nadare called out as he finished his string of hand seals. Instead of wind rushing out from his body the wind rushed towards his right arm which he had extended in front of him. The wind began to spiral around his arm and slowly grow outwards until a three-headed dragon formed from his arm. Each of the dragon heads was easily the size of a full grown man and was connected to Nadare's arm by cones of white wind.

Naruto balefully glared at the new jutsu.

"So, not only can you spam hundred of clones, you can create a pet dragon? Really? There has to be some limit to what you can do. I mean Kaka-sensei waltzed all over you last time! What happened?" Naruto asked, though in all honesty he could care less. He just needed as much time as possible to catch his breath and try and figure out how to face this newest threat. As far as he could tell he just needed to sever Nadare's right arm from his body and the jutsu would be neutralized. Sadly the past hour of combat had showed that while Naruto's recent advancements had given him an edge in battle, there was a limit to how far throwing raw power around would get him. Nadare was too far ahead of Naruto to really be bothered by the overwhelming force. No matter how fast Naruto moved or how much power he threw into his attacks Nadare had always been able to either avoid or parry Naruto's attacks.

"What happened? A worthless blonde rat like you happened!? We had it all! The machine, the country, everything. And then you waltzed in and ruined everything. So when I got away I swore I would come back and own this whole country! Doto was brilliant to design this armor, but he didn't take it far enough. I found a man who improved it and took it so far beyond what Doto ever envisioned that I have truly surpassed him in every manner. Now, now nothing is beyond my reach! I can take whatever I want with this power! And the first thing I will take is your life!" His speech apparently over Nadare thrust his right hand forward and the three dragon heads launched themselves at Naruto.

'_That's it?!' _Naruto mentally ranted as he lifted off the ground again and began to dash left and right to avoid the incoming projectiles. _'The whack jobs I usually fight can rant for hours on end if prompted. Why couldn't this pain in the arse just follow the script?' _Rant finished Naruto somersaulted over the last dragon head and spun mid air unleashing an arc of purple chakra as he did so. Instead of aiming the blade of chakra at Nadare himself Naruto aimed at the 'necks' of the dragons in hopes of severing the connection. However, the blade just passed through the cone of wind without so much as phasing the dragons. That unfortunate misstep left Naruto wide open for the dragons to tear into him. Which they did not a moment later when each one slammed into him in rapid succession ending with him slammed into the ground covered in lacerations and coughing up blood. A shout of pain forced its way past Naruto's lips as he lay in the ground. Forcing his eyes open he witnessed as the three dragon heads split and multiplied so that now six different dragon heads glared down at him.

Maniacal laughter echoed above the roaring winds.

"You are done for!" Nadare shouted. "So long as the chakra is present they will only multiple further and further. Now die!" The crazed man practically screamed as the dragons launched at Naruto once more.

Acting on instinct Naruto thrust both his arms upwards. However, instead of simply hurling the chakra out and away from his body Naruto held onto the wave of chakra and held it in place. The chakra had become a third arm, why not use it to block? And so he let the dragons crash into his wall of chakra, and just like the swords of the samurai days ago the dragons slammed into the wall without penetrating it. Despite Naruto was not directly blocking the attacks he felt each one slamming into the wall of chakra and each hit shoved him further and further into the ground he was laying on. By the end of the barrage he was laying in a Naruto-shaped crater battered and bruised despite having not taken a single hit directly.

But now he knew how to fight the onslaught.

Shooting a surge of chakra out his shoulder blades to propel him upwards and out of the crater Naruto rolled and spun to face Nadare once more before charging the man. The dragons had multiplied once more and with another shriek of fury Nadare launched the twelve dragons at Naruto. Smirking Naruto stopped speeding forward and braced for the impact of the attack by gripping the ground with chakra as best he could before putting up another wall of chakra. Something happened though because Naruto felt some foreign thought move through his body and change the wall of chakra so that instead of being a flat wall it was more of a cone that was angled to sheer off any oncoming attacks. And it worked. Instead of the attacks slamming into the wall with enough force to give Naruto bruises the attacks merely glanced off the wall and slightly pushed Naruto back.

But what had changed the wall?

That same foreign thought began to make him move his legs to action when Naruto finally figured it out. It was the fox.

As soon as he realized what it was the foreign thought vanished from his body. As did his strength.

Falling to the ground and panting in exhaustion Naruto couldn't help the expression of bewilderment on his face. Before he could even question what was going on he heard the fox roar in anger from inside the sword.

'_**You ignorant idiot! Why did you break the synch?'**_

'_Synch?' _Naruto questioned back franticly. He was so out of his depth with the connection it was frightening. _'The hell are you talking about!? And why could I feel you in my body!? What is going on!?' _Naruto asked with panic lacing his thoughts.

'_**You and I were synched! Our thoughts, actions, and emotions were perfectly aligned. You had my strength and speed behind your movements the entire time! Why did you break it?'**_

Naruto was about to respond but was forced to pay attention to the fight again as the numerous dragons once more charged him. This time however he didn't have the chakra to throw up a wall, or even glide around the dragons. Instead he was forced to rely on his natural agility and his penchant for improvised movement. So as Naruto began to duck and dodge around the dragons he continued the conversation with the fox. _'I broke it because I didn't know what the hell it was! Not to mention I thought you were breaking free. I don't care if we are tied together. I am not letting you free!'_

In the seal Kyuubi slammed is head against the seal.

'_**You idiot! There is no more 'breaking free' for me! You and I are bound body and soul to one another for all time. Now let me fight!'**_

'_No!' _Naruto shouted even as he managed to dodge the final dragon and escape the barrage with only a few scratches and one sever gouge across his chest. But even as he denied it he knew he was running out of options. He was practically out of chakra. Nadare still had this last jutsu running. And to top it all off Naruto still had no way to actually beat the man. Hell even his kunai and shuriken holsters had been long lost in the earlier battles. All he had left was the sword and the fox. With a final grunt Naruto hurled the sword at Nadare's chest hoping that the insanely overpowered wind jutsu he was using would force the man to stay stationary.

No such luck existed.

Laughing at the pitiful attempt Nadare side stepped the blade.

Naruto watched the blade sail past its target and was just about to summon the blade back when he felt a pull from the blade. Before he had time to contemplate the pull or even try to resist it he found himself on the other side of the clearing holding the blade he had just thrown and standing not a foot away from Nadare. Why waste a chance? So lunging forward Naruto sliced down at the man's head. Nadare just barely recovered in time and managed to move to the left a hair. Naruto's attack may have missed Nadare's head, but at least it took his entire right arm from him.

Screaming in pain Nadare leapt away from the blonde and put some distance between them.

Naruto grinned and watched as the man fled. Arm was off, jutsu was canceled, and Nadare was out of chakra tanks. Time to end it. At least, that was Naruto's train of thought until the arm that had been encased by wind was torn to shreds and the wind dragons gained a body of their own made purely out of wind and blood.

Laughter pulled Naruto from observing the formation of the body.

"_That _is why that was a forbidden jutsu from the north. Once summoned, that jutsu last until all the chakra is depleted and since you cut my arm off from me the jutsu used all the chakra stored in my entire arm. Now you have to fight it while it acts on its own, and me!" Nadare taunted as he pulled out a kunai and got into a fighting stance.

'_I can't win.' _Naruto thought as he watched the hydra finish forming. The body alone was the size of a small house and instead of multiplying the dragon heads had grown in size.

'_**No **_**YOU**_** cannot. However, I can. Give me control kit and I will end this battle.'**_

'_But…' _Naruto started to protest only for Kyuubi to cut him off.

'_**We have no time for debate or thought! Either give me control or fight till we die.'**_

Naruto hesitated for but a moment before finally sighing and resigning himself to his fate. It was almost instant. Cold hands spread out from the seal crawling under Naruto's skin and numbing all that they touched as they swept through his frame. It was like his body was asleep. He felt nothing yet he was aware of where everything was and what was going on around him. What he was not aware of was that his eyes had reversed. Crimson red dominated the inside of his eyes while the blue was forced to the outside in a thin ring that was so thin it was but a line.

Kyuubi grinned with Naruto's face as his chakra exploded out of Naruto's tiny frame.

While the change affected Nadare and froze him in his tracks the now fully formed hydra was un-phased by the change. A target was a target as far it was concerned. So the hydra launched itself at the Kyuubi possessed Naruto. Laughing Kyuubi simply stood there awaiting the attack.

From within his body Naruto panicked and wanted to force his body out of the way of the attack, but sadly Kyuubi had control and he was stuck.

Smirking internally at feeling Naruto panicking Kyuubi watched as the dragonheads drew closer. As soon as they were within arms reach he lashed out with Naruto's arm and simply batted them away as if they were nothing more than flies. After batting aside the last of the heads Kyuubi thrust Naruto's hand forward and slammed a crimson red hand of chakra into the body of the hydra throwing the entire beast up against the barrier of wind. Though, when the beast retained its form and staggered back to its feet Kyuubi frowned.

"**Hmmm, you are more resilient than I anticipated. Nevertheless, while I enjoy my freedom this body has reached its limit. Time to end this."** Ignoring Nadare's shouts and protest Kyuubi began to fumble Naruto's hand through a string of hand seals that he was certain confused Naruto. Upon finishing Kyuubi used Naruto's face once more to flash a wicked grin at the now panicking Nadare before calling out his jutsu. **"Kitsune Style: Hell's Flare."**

And then the world went white.

**8888**

Asuma jerked his head up and stared in horror out of the forest. It had taken him the better half of the last hour to clear the festival grounds of patrons and he was just beginning to start cleaning the mess Naruto had left behind when he felt something he had not felt in nearly fifteen years. Otherworldly dark and hellishly vile chakra swept over the land as if the Shinigami himself had manifested in the woods. All life stilled and the silence coming from the forest was so deafening it came as a greater shock than the wave of malignant chakra. The silence lasted but a moment. A thunderous explosion shook the entire countryside and a ways off into the woods a pillar of flame, ash, and smoke exploded skywards in a brilliant display of destruction.

Asuma stared at the explosion for only a second before acting.

"Hell, why couldn't Ino have stayed here?" Asuma cursed as he took out two bright blue pills and popped them into his mouth. The pills were given to all jounin as a last resort measure. They took an immense toll on the body once they wore off, but for the first hour or so after taking them they gave an almost full recharge of one's chakra reserves. Sighing in relief at once more having chakra Asuma quickly used two fire jutsu to burn the remaining gore to ash in a moment. "Kami I missed chakra." The mess now gone Asuma quickly made a shadow clone. "Go keep an eye on Choji and help him watch of Koyuki." Asuma ordered before taking off without even waiting for a response from the clone.

Within seconds he was dashing through the woods as fast as he could. Had it only been Naruto out in the woods he wouldn't be in so much of a rush. Not because he cared less about Naruto, but because he knew that between the Kyuubi and Naruto's natural tenacity he would survive virtually anything. Ino on the other hand had neither of the two, not to mention she was a clan heir and letting her die would have serious repercussions. Naruto dying would have political implications in that Konoha no longer had a jinchuuriki, but aside from that it wouldn't throw a wrench in Konoha politics. It was a cold way of looking at things, but his father had taught him to look at things in every aspect. Not just through rose-colored glasses.

As Asuma drew nearer to the cloud of smoke that was still lingering in the air he opened his senses up and slowed down so he could begin scanning the area for Ino or Naruto. He didn't have to look long. Ino's chakra signature was just a short distance ahead of him directly in line of travel. And it felt as if Naruto was with her. At least, a Naruto who was masking his chakra signature again.

**8888**

Naruto heard Asuma sprinting through the woods and came to a halt and let out a sigh. He had been hoping that he would have made it back to the castle before running into Asuma. The half hour or so of leisurely walking back to the castle would have given him time to think up a story and recharge enough of his chakra to throw up the transformation again.

At the moment he was only able to keep walking thanks to Kyuubi feeding trace amounts of chakra into his system via the sword. Had it not been for the sword changing Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto's own Naruto would have been forced to lay inert until he recharged. His chakra system was so over used from molding the blend of his and Kyuubi's chakra that his insides felt like they were burnt and each pulse of his heart was a throbbing pain that lethargically pushed acidic magma through his veins. His body had never hurt this badly before, not even after his clash with Sasuke in the Valley of The End had his body ached like this. Honestly he ought to be blacked out on the ground right now. But when he had seen Ino lying on the ground he had forced himself to keep moving. The fox was just helping out to prevent Naruto from harming himself any further than he already had.

And so when Asuma landed in front of Naruto the blonde couldn't help but wonder at what a sight he must be. The only clothing he had on was the little that remained of his pants so the smaller aspects of his recent physical change were on glorious display for the jounin to see. Heck, even Naruto's shoes had been burnt off so Asuma could even see the changes in their entirety. Everything from his crimson and cerulean eyes to his skeletal changes in height and bone structure were visible. Not to mention Naruto was walking with an unconscious Ino in his arms.

Smirking as Asuma sized him up Naruto made sure his teeth were exposed so that the jounin wouldn't miss anything. If a few cats are out of the bag might as well let em all out.

"Evening Asuma-sensei. Care to join me for a walk?"


	6. Enter The Fox

**Enter The Fox**

"A walk? No." Asuma ground out. His patience had officially reached its end. Being ever changing on the battlefield was a good thing. Keeping tricks up your sleeve was a brilliant move. However, that did not apply to team members. Keeping secrets from teammates, or even worse the sensei, is an absolute taboo in the ninja world. Secrets were kept from enemies, not from allies. There were scant few exceptions such as vital information that team members may not need that will only bring them danger. However, this was not that sort of information. What Naruto was hiding was going to get his teammates killed. And it was time the secrets came to light. "What I want is answers. I know you are masking your chakra. I don't know how you're doing it, but I know you are. What is with the transformation? And lastly, why did I just feel a massive surge of the Fox's chakra? And don't lie on any of this because I can have you suspended for insubordination by ignoring a direct, or order undermining the mission by withholding information."

Naruto sighed and began to walk towards the castle.

"That sounds like a mighty long walk." Naruto tiredly responded as he passed Asuma and continued on his way. If he had more energy than Naruto would have panicked or even argued with Asuma, but as tired as he was if he stood still he was just gonna fall asleep. When he did not immediately hear Asuma following him he looked over his shoulder. "Well, any particular place you want me to start?"

"With the Kyuubi." Asuma retorted as he began to follow Naruto.

"Ugh, figured. That would be the result of me biting off more than I could chew. The last guy, Nadare, had these chakra tanks and so he had a crap ton of chakra. More than me. So when I ran out I had to tap into Kyuubi's chakra to keep going. However, Kyuubi's chakra didn't mix real well with the chakra in the chakra tanks so when I shattered one the end result was the massive explosion."

"Which you and Ino survived by…" Asuma let the sentence hang in the air for Naruto to finish.

"I survived because I am practically fireproof thanks to the fox. Ino survived because Nadare put up an Ice Barrier of some sort to prevent me from escaping. When the explosion happened, however, it also absorbed most of the blow from the explosion so Ino only got minimal damage. She probably was knocked out by the shock of the blast rather than by the fire. It looks like the blast just slightly singed her skin." The last was mumbled sadly as he turned his attention back to the slumbering girl in his arms. He couldn't help the pang of regret that ate his chest up. He also couldn't, particularly want to, stop the flash of anger he felt towards the fox for harming her.

However, Asuma drew him from his thoughts by prompting him.

"So then I am to take it as normal that you can simply tap into the fox's chakra whenever you want?"

"Not whenever." Naruto corrected. "I have to be totally drained of chakra, beyond desperate, or emotionally unstable. Hell, Pervy sage taught me to do it by pushing me off a cliff. But, if you're still worried about it ask Kaka-sensei. I did it on our first mission when I thought Sasuke had died."

"Hmmm" Asuma rumbled out. Whether he believed it or not Naruto couldn't tell. "Well," Asuma continued after only a momentary pause. "then care to explain your changing chakra capacity and signature size?"

"Oh that is the easiest of them all to explain." Naruto retorted nonchalantly. "In the academy the instructors only gave me a rough idea of what went into the transformation jutsu so I had to fiddle with it on my own. Turns out I stumbled across a real," Naruto paused to shift Ino in his arms. "I stumbled across a true transformation. It isn't an illusion. It is a true blue transformation. And since I have such a hard time masking my chakra signature I just use the transformation to hide my chakra signature whenever I want."

"So then what is your true chakra signature?" Asuma questioned.

Instead of answering Naruto gave a nervous chuckle.

"Well, uh-huh I actually can't show you at the moment. I have almost no chakra right now. But when it is recharged I will let you get a feel for my real chakra reserves."

"Fair enough. And I take it this 'true transformation' is why you look the way you do now?"

Naruto was immensely thankful Asuma was behind him as it allowed the momentary flash of surprise to pass across his face unnoticed.

"Yeah." Naruto replied smoothly forcing his body not to show any signs of his excitement at Asuma giving him a way out of explaining the merging. "I figured out that for my fighting style changing a few traits like my skeletal features helps my mobility and range of motion for my sword. I combined my natural eyes with that of an animals so that I can see better. And the teeth just look epic! No?" Naruto exclaimed as he heard Asuma chuckle behind him. "I mean just imagine the spook factor of seeing me walk through fire with a wolfish grin on my face."

Asuma sighed and shook his head.

"Only you would think to try to look scary."

"Hey, Zabuza had major spook factor when we first saw him and that paralyzed myself, Sakura, and Sasuke. So I figured why not copy what works?"

"Alright, but then why don't you shift back to your normal appearance?"

"Because I'm out of chakra."

"Then shouldn't that end the transformation?"

Naruto shook his head trying to look as sad as possible.

"Afraid not. Remember, this is a true transformation. If I do nothing my body will never change from how I have it looking right now. I will have to use the jutsu again to get back to normal."

Asuma blinked at that detail. He had understood that it was a true transformation, but the full implications of what that meant hadn't quite sunk in.

"So then…"

"This is how I look till I cast the jutsu again. This is my bone and flesh, not an illusion. But don't worry by the time we make it back to the castle I should have enough chakra to change back real quick."

"You recharge that fast?"

"Yep!" Naruto chirped.

"Lucky jinchuuriki." Asuma mumbled to himself.

"What'd you say Asuma-sensei."

"Nothing kid, nothing at all."

**8888**

Tsunade rubbed her head in exasperation. It was well into the night hours and she was still trying to figure out who was owed what from today's explosion due to some idiot kids playing with a cargo of explosives that had been headed for the mines. The parents felt they were owed compensation for the loss of their children. The merchant wanted reimbursement for failed delivery of his product. The mines wanted reimbursement for the delay in their work. And the nearby property owners wanted reimbursement for the damage caused from the explosion. And the ones who had actually caused the whole mess had been killed in the accident so the blame was just left lying around. The parents ought to be at fault, but they already lost their children from the ordeal.

Chucking the scroll across the room Tsunade threw her hands up in defeat.

"Screw it! I'm going home for the night. I'll tend to this when I'm not so bloody tired." Tsunade fumed as she began to lock away all the mission scrolls and documents. She was just about done when the window to her right was thrown open and Jiraiya suddenly leapt through.

"Where is Naruto?" Jiraiya barked out.

Tsunade blinked even as she began to relax and lean back into her seat.

"Nice to…

"Not now!" Jiraiya cut in with a look of panicked fury on his face. "I'll play around some other time. Now, where is Naruto?" Jiraiya demanded once more.

Tsunade reeled. Jiraiya was _never_ cross or short with her. Even when she ticked him off he was never this short with her. The _only_ time she had ever seen him this short was when a mission had gone to hell and they were fighting against impossible odds. But even then he had always had a sardonic sense of humor. This, this was new.

"He is on a mission with a mission with Team Ten in Snow Country."

"Fuck!" Jiraiya shouted before beginning to pace and mumble to himself. "It had to be Snow Country. The toads don't have any leap points near there. Though I can still be there in a day if I leave now. Where specifically in Snow Country?" The last was addressed to Tsunade who was still trying to catch up to his chain of thought.

"Jiraiya! Calm down and…"

"Naruto's name has vanished off the Toad's Scroll of Summoning." Jiraiya snapped. "The ONLY reason that happens is because the person is dead. I was deep undercover in Sound looking for any info Orochimaru might have on Akatsuki when the toads summoned me back to Mount Myoboku asking about Naruto. I spent the last three days sprinting back here after I found out about it." Explanation finished, and apparently his patience as well, Jiraiya leaned forward onto the desk to gaze directly at Tsunade's eyes. "Now, when did Naruto leave? Who was he with? Where specifically was he heading? What were the mission parameters? When is he due back? Where there any waypoints established prior to their departure? And what was his mission's objective?"

Tsunade's eyes went wide in horror as she fell back into her chair and stared blankly at her former teammate.

"He took off a week and five days ago." Tsunade robotically supplied as her mind tried to work through the onslaught of information. "He was headed to the capital of Snow Country for the festival because his missive was to protect the princess during the festival." Info supplied Tsunade sat back quietly to finish contemplating the matter. It wasn't until Jiraiya was half out back out the window when her mind was caught up enough to take action. "Wait, wait!" She called out.

Jiraiya only paused for a split second.

It was long enough for her to stand and latch hold of his arm.

"You need to stay here." Tsunade argued even as her grip strengthened when she saw him about to argue.

A quirked eyebrow and scowl was enough to halt his argument.

He may be the last active Sannin. He may be a sage. He may take on a battalion of jounin blindfolded and not break a sweat. Hell, he may even be the strongest ninja in the village. He would go toe to toe with Orochimaru or any of the Akatsuki and never back down.

She was still his hime.

"They are due back tomorrow." Tsunade started before continuing when she saw that he was truly listening. "They should have taken three days for them to arrive in Snow Country, a week for the festival, and then two return days. By the time you get there they should be getting back."

"I'll intercept them on their way back." He argued.

"And if you miss them on the sea?"

"I can double back and catch up."

Tsunade shook her head and sighed. "And you would have run all the way to Snow Country for nothing." Slowly pulling him back into the room and taking him by the shoulders Tsunade steered him to the couch in her office and sat him down. "Just wait. We'll know by tomorrow. If they don't show up by midday tomorrow I'll send you and Kakashi after them."

"Kakashi isn't with him?" Jiraiya demanded as he thundered back to his feet.

He was promptly sat back down by a chakra-enhanced flick to the forehead.

"I _just _told you Naruto went with Team Ten." With a huff Tsunade retrieved the scroll she had hurled across the room. "Naruto's been changing these past two months. Sakura wanted to know the big secret and when we wouldn't tell her she wanted to be removed from the team. Team Ten was in need of a fourth member so I placed him on their team with a month probationary period…."

""Wait, wait!" Jiraiya cut in. "Naruto's been changing? He moved teams?"

Tsunade sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. Conversation like this always went smoother when accompanied by sake.

**8888**

Ino awoke to the feel of the earth shifting about her. She also awoke in a strange bed in a strange room. Luckily a quick sweep of the area revealed her clothes and ninja gear were on a table a few feet away. However, it was not the fact that her gear was around that soothed her worries. What soothed her was the fact Naruto's chakra was saturating the place. He wasn't exactly nearby, but wherever he was he had obviously dropped his illusion and was letting his chakra roam about as it pleased. At this range the saturation was at just the right level to bring a sense of calm certainty without bringing the oppressive aura of suffocation it brought when he came too close.

Lying back in her bed Ino sighed and reveled in the feel of his chakra. As she drifted off to sleep she couldn't blot out the incoming vision of Asuma standing on the sea in a fighting stance just a few paces away from her with a relatively small ship behind him. Grinning at the thrill of a good fight out at sea with her new sensi Ino felt her hand reach out to grab something that was not there. Her final vision before drifting off to sleep was of a flash of orange as an obsidian black blade materialized in her hands.

**8888**

Naruto grinned at the thrill of a good fight out at sea with his new sensei. Reaching his hand out to grab something that was not there he saw a flash of orange as an obsidian black blade materialized in his hands.  
>"Ready Asuma-sensei?"<p>

Asuma pensively nodded. The amount of chakra Naruto was casually pouring out at the moment was inhuman. It wasn't inhuman in the sense that there was so much of it. If Asuma tried he could match it for a short while. No, what was inhuman about it was that the chakra didn't dissipate once it was outside Naruto's body. Ordinarily, when chakra was poured out like this it dissipated after several seconds. So, unless Naruto was constantly flooding chakra, which didn't seem to be the case, then Naruto's chakra was not behaving as a human's chakra ought to. Which meant every tactic Asuma had for dealing with an opponent like this could not be trusted.

Shaking his head and pulling out his trench knives Asuma nodded.

"Ready when you are Naruto. And remember, this is a spar to get a feel for what you are actually capable of. No lethal force."

Naruto nodded as he dropped into his battle stance of holding the sword with his right hand with it pointing behind him. His shoes had been left on the ship and so as he lifted off the water through the use of his chakra it was easy to see that even though he was more or less floating he was balanced on the balls of his as they both pointed slightly to the side leaving him in a basic fighting stance.

Grinning even wider Naruto was just about to launch forward when Asuma suddenly stopped walking on the water and dropped straight down into the ocean.

"What the.." Was all Naruto managed to get out before two blades of wind shot out of the water. Letting out a strangled shout Naruto fell backwards to avoid being bisected by the blades. Before he fell too far backwards a foot emerged from the water and delivered a vicious kick into Naruto's side sending Naruto skidding across the water. Sputtering and getting back to his feet Naruto saw that Asuma was standing on the water, but he was standing on the water under the water so that he was submerged up to his knees by the water. "How in the…"

"It's a trick I picked up from watching a shinobi from Hidden Mist fight. By being half in half out of the water I get far more mobility. You may be fast kid, but there are all sorts of speed in this world. Now, pay attention." Asuma teased before ducking back under.

Instead of waiting like he had last time Naruto immediately leapt straight up before launching a concussion wave of chakra downwards that created a indent in the water large enough to fit a cruise liner. It also served to reveal Asuma.

"Found you!" Naruto shouted before hurling his sword at the jounin. Grinning at feeling Kyuubi use minor amounts of chakra to direct the flight of the sword Naruto watched as instead of attempting to pierce Asuma the sword was aimed directly above Asuma's head. As soon as the sword was within range Naruto felt the fox summon him to the sword in a flash of orange light. Immediately rotating and slamming his heel down on Asuma Naruto was rewarded with a massive explosion as his blow sent Asuma hurdling down through the depths of the ocean.

At least he thought it had.

Not two seconds after he had sent the Asuma clone under the water another Asuma popped out of the water and blasted Naruto with a gale force wind that sent the blonde splashing and spluttering across the water. Rolling back to his feet Naruto glared at Asuma who was grinning at him.

"Alright, screw playing defense." Naruto growled out before he hurled his sword under the water as he dashed forwards.

Sure enough Asuma immediately ducked back under the waves in order to negate Naruto's speed.

Kyuubi, however, had other ideas. Using several bursts of chakra Kyuubi hurled the sword through the sea in search of Asuma, and since Asuma was the only other chakra signature it was but moments before the sword was within range. With a laugh Kyuubi unleashed a massive gout of blue chakra that tore through the water straight at Asuma.

Reacting on instinct Asuma shot up and out of the water only in order to avoid being roasted by the blazing inferno of chakra. However, the moment he emerged a veritable brick wall of chakra slammed into him and sent him skipping across the surface of the water.

Naruto grinned as he summoned his sword back to him.

"That better Asuma-sensei?"

Surprisingly Asuma laughed.

"That is much better. I was wondering when you were gonna get serious. Thankfully the ship is now out of range so we can play for real."

"Huh?" Was all Naruto could respond with. He hadn't even noticed that the ship had sailed a good distance away from them in the time they had been dueling.

Instead of even bothering to respond Asuma ran through a string of handseals before moving his fingers to his lips. **Fire Style: Dragon Haze **Asuma called out as he breathed out a massive plume of black smoke that engulfed the both of them in soot and ash.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the attack. "Asuma-sensei, you do realize I'm fireproof right? As in…" Naruto was cut off as a blazing ball of fire suddenly shot out of the smoke. However, instead of the ball of fire trying to burn him it simply exploded the moment it was within range. The explosion had enough force behind it to blast Naruto down into the water. Rolling in the water and using a burst of chakra to propel himself through the water Naruto shot back out of the water and immediately was hit by yet another explosion. Amidst the cloud of pitch black smoke and the chakra that sustained it Naruto was utterly blind. Fireball after fireball rained down.

Seeing yet another come his way Naruto threw his hands up in front of him and pulled his chakra, which had been flowing about the place as it pleased, in front of him to form a barrier. To his immense surprise and delight the chakra did a perfect job of acting as a shield. Not only was it deflecting the fire, but it was also absorbing the impact of the explosions. When three more balls of fire emerged from the smoke simultaneously Naruto simply grinned and willed his chakra to shield him.

'_**Now you're fighting like a jinchuuriki.' **_Kyuubi rumbled from within the sword as he watched Naruto work with and shift the chakra around to deflect the incoming balls of fire.

'_You could've told me I could use my chakra like this.'_

'_**And do all the work for you? I think not! You may be coming into possession of my powers, but I will not be spoon feeding you info on how to use them. Oh, and you might want to roll to the left.'**_

Immediately doing as the fox said Naruto was horrified as not a second later a blade of wind tore through his barrier of chakra and slashed clear through the water.

"Hey! I thought you said no lethal force!" Naruto cried out indignantly to the cloud of smoke. When the only response he got was another blade of wind Naruto huffed in annoyance as he dodged once again. "Okay fine, screw this cat and mouse game." Crouching down and drawing his chakra as tightly as he could Naruto held it for but a moment before letting it rush back out in a spiral motion so that it swept away the smoke as it went.

"Alright, that'll do." Asuma called out as the smoke screen blew away to reveal him standing a few yards to Naruto's right.

"Ahhhh." Naruto whined as he set the blade against the back and used a touch of chakra to keep it in place. "But we were just getting to the good point."

"Uh-huh, the point where you start using that chakra barrier to be immune to all but the strongest of attacks? By the way, why haven't you used that before?"

"Because I didn't know I could do it."

"You're kidding me." Asuma drawled out.

"Nope! The fox gives me tons of chakra, but he doesn't give instructions on how to use it so I kind of just fiddle with it till I get it to do what I want. But hey! It works no?"

Asuma sighed and shook his head.

"Sort of."

"So so," Naruto questioned excitedly as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "How did I do? You think I'm grand?"

"I think you have the power and speed of a jounin." Asuma started to which Naruto preened and puffed out his chest. Smirking the jounin continued. "However, your skill level is genin at best. And a low level genin at that."

"What!? But I defeated all those people back in Snow!"

"Because of your power, speed, and chakra reserves. Not to mention being fireproof thanks to the fox. Without those you would have been just as helpless as Choji and Ino. As far as I have seen you have one jutsu, the Shadow Clone. And while it is a rather advanced jutsu, it is still just one jutsu. Your taijutsu is rough," Asuma held a hand up to stave off Naruto's rant of defense. "which, I can mostly pardon since you are just now adjusting to having immense chakra. However, did you even notice the fact there was a genjutsu mixed into the smoke?"

Naruto blinked.

"You cast a genjutsu?"

Asuma sighed and dropped his head as he nodded.

"Yes, it was a low level genjutsu mixed into the smoke that would have slowly suffocated you. It was taking forever to affect you, but that is probably due to your enormous chakra reserves rather than any resistance on your part. Genjutsu wise you are totally and utterly incapable. How did you even manage to break the genjutsu the Snow Ninja used?"

"A burst of Kyuubi's chakra." Naruto mumbled out. He had known that using the fox's gifts would mean that some of his talents were attributed to the fox, but to have someone analyze and tear his skills apart only to reach the verdict that _he_ only had one skill was disheartening. He had had his skills torn apart before. But it felt so much worse to not only have them apart but to have most of them attributed to someone else entirely.

Asuma hummed at the response and nodded.

"Makes sense. It would be the same thing as having a second person break a genjutsu for you."

"Mmm." Naruto hummed despondently as he turned inwards.

'_Oi! Fox, why didn't you catch and break the genjutsu?'_

'_**You get scolded and your first thought is to come ask me why I failed?'**_

'_Just answer the damned question!'_

Instead of answering Kyuubi merely gave a snort of annoyance before retreating into the recesses of the cage. As he did so the sword on Naruto's back flashed out of existence.

Masking his shock at the fox's retort Naruto ran through a needless string of phony hand seals before casting his transformation jutsu and reverting his image back to normal as well as reigning in his chakra reserves to a more human level.

"You know, if you are trying to conceal the fact you don't need hand seals to cast the jutsu you might want to at least use the same phony seals." Asuma said with a grin as he watched the shock play across Naruto's features. Chuckling Asuma nodded. "Yes I noticed. Seeing as you've been so secretive with everything I decided to keep a closer eye on you from now on. So, you're that comfortable with the jutsu?"

Naruto shrugged.

"My body has always easily adjusted to change so the jutsu comes easier to me than to anyone else I tried teaching it to. Yet another thing I have the fox to thank." Naruto mumbled.

"Well fox aside you have the skills of a basic genin. Your skill with genjutsu is nonexistent, your taijutsu is far below par, and your ninjutsu repertoire is abysmal. You are a force to be reckoned with in battle due to your power, but there is only so far that raw power can get you. Raw power only compensates for lack of skill in absurd levels, and the greater the gap between skill levels the more power you are going to need."

Naruto sighed and nodded.

"Hai hai Asuma-sensei." Naruto mumbled out dejectedly.

Asuma snuck a glance out the corner of his eye at the dejected blonde and couldn't help but wonder if tearing Naruto's skills apart had really been such a good idea. Kakashi had said that Naruto would only grow stronger for it, but the look of defeat on Naruto's face didn't put Asuma at ease.

**8888**

Unlike the last time she had woken up, which had been in a state of partial consciousness that granted her a blissful respite from taking stock of her body, Ino was acutely aware of her current state the moment she woke up. A stinging pain covered her entire body. It wasn't soreness, as much as a rawness to her skin that made even the lightweight of the cover feel like an irritating contact. Her throat was horridly dry and scratchy. Her breathing sounded ragged and doing any heavy exercise was obviously out of the question. Forcing herself to move Ino groaned at the action. Her skin did not like moving.

"Why do I feel like I have third degree sun burns?" Ino questioned no one as she gingerly began to dress. Deciding that tightly cinching anything on her body was a bad idea Ino left her kunai holster in the room with her bag. Now dressed and in need of a drink for her throat Ino went to leave the wooden compartment she assumed, based upon the constant and consistent rocking of the floor beneath her, was a cabin in a boat.

Upon opening the door Ino found herself standing in a wooden, windowless hall with a curved wall opposite her.

"Definitely a ship."

"Can you please not make all of use blondes look bad?" Naruto's voice quipped up from behind Ino causing said girl to squeak in shock.

"Whisker!? Kami, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Naruto smirked and held his hands up in mock surrender. "My bad, I was unaware I had to announce my presence to a ninja."

Ino scowled and narrowed her eyes before huffing.

"Bastard. Find me a drink of water. My throat is killing me." Ino ordered as she gingerly began to walk down the hall what she hoped was the direction of the deck.

"Wha? Why me? Why can't you go get it?"  
>"Cause I don't know the ship and because you are a sweet kind gentleman who wouldn't dare leave a poor wounded woman to suffer on her own without…<p>

"Alright alright! Just shut up! Aggravating blonde."

"Tch, you're one to talk." Ino chided as she poked Naruto in the side. "So, what ship are we on and how long was I out?"

"Well you were actually only out for the night and part of the day. Once Koyuki-hime's head medic had given you and I a thorough examination and decreed we were both healthy enough to move we hopped a midnight ship back to Konoha. It is way smaller than the ship we took on the way here. You actually woke just in time for chow."

"Mmm" Ino grumbled. "I'll pass on the food, my throat is a bit too sore, but something to drink sounds heavenly." The blondette mused as she absentmindedly rubbed her throat. "Why is my throat so sore? It wasn't this sore last I remember. Nor did it feel like I had a bad case of sun burn."

"Eh-he, About that."

Ino sighed and held up a hand.

"Wait till we I get a drink before you launch into your story."

Naruto scowled in annoyance.

"You act like I always tell stories."

"You do. You're like a walking story book."

"I do not!" Naruto cried indignantly.

"You do too. You rarely give a straight answer. You just sort of answer questions with stories." Ino giggled and pat his head to mockingly placate him. "But don't worry I love stories so it's okay."

"Whatever!"

"So, where are Asuma-sensei and Choji."

"Asuma-sensei is up on deck discussing arrival time and course or some nonsense like that, and Choji is curled up in our room. Koyuki-hime gave him something to knock him out so he wouldn't have to suffer the whole way back."

"Mmm." Ino grunted noncommittally. "That was nice of her."

Naruto turned his head to the side and gazed at Ino with a puzzled look on his face. Grinning and shaking his head he let the question slide.

**8888**

"There you two are." Asuma called out as he walked onto the deck and found Naruto leaning against the railing with bowl of rice in his hands while Ino was sipping from a bottle of water. Upon his calling the two genin paused their conversation and waved to him. "Was wondering where you had gotten to. Worried me for a moment when you weren't in your room sleeping. So, how you feeling?"  
>"Fine mostly. My skin is raw and my throat is a bit sore, but that is all probably due to the flash fire from Naruto ending his fight with the snow ninja."<p>

Asuma quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Naruto filled you in on everything that happened?"

"Yep." Ino chirped only to frown when she saw that Asuma wasn't looking at her but rather at Naruto who was solemnly shaking his head.

"Well," Naruto started as he pushed off the railing and began to walk away. "I'll go return their dish."

Ino started after him when Asuma cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Stay Ino."

Ino blinked and leaned back against the railing as she let the silence stretch. Once Naruto was out of sight and off the desk Ino quirked an eyebrow.

"So what's up Asuma-sensei?" Ino questioned hoping to keep some sort of humor in the conversation. The look on Asuma's face didn't bode well and she was hoping to turn it around before it began.

"You and Naruto's relationship."

Ino choked on the water she had been drinking and gaped at her sensei.

"I-I wouldn't say we have a relationship."

Asuma pulled out a cigarette and lit it with the tip of his thumb before continuing. "Well, whatever it is it's beginning to become a distraction."

"How is it…"

"You ran off to keep an eye on Naruto. Despite the fact you had been severely wounded you still endangered yourself to pursue him. The mission was to protect Koyuki, yet you ran off and left her unguarded."

"You and Choji were there!" Ino defended heatedly.

"And I was practically dead on my feet from chakra loss." Asuma snapped back. "You, on the other hand, were obviously still battle capable and ought to have remained behind to help with crowd control and protection of the target."

"But Naruto…"

"Was involved in something way out of your league."  
>"Which is why I needed to make sure he was okay. He wouldn't signal for help until it was too late."<p>

"I said it was out of your league, not his. He was in a situation that had a margin of safety that was tolerable for him. You on the other hand were way out of your depth. And you went there simply to keep an eye on him. You ought to have stayed put. Companionship between teammates is a rough thing and something that the superiors usually try to avoid."

"Avoid?"

"In other words, if a couple forms on a team the two members are reassigned to different teams."

"Why!?" Ino fussed. "Why would you break them up?"  
>"They aren't breaking the couple up Ino. They are keeping them separate so that they can focus on the mission. Because, as you have so beautifully demonstrated, they can jeopardize the mission for the sake of their partner. Imagine if you had to save either Naruto or Koyuki, who would you save?" Ino's silence was answer enough for Asuma. "See? That is why the leader of the team is responsible for reporting when a partnership that compromises the team forms."<p>

"Wait, that means…"  
>"That means that if you and Naruto can't learn to suspend your relationship for the mission then I will have it reported and you two will be put on separate teams. But only if you two can't keep your heads in the game. You especially. Naruto still seems to have his head on right, but if either of you makes it impossible for the team to function as a unit then it'll be reported as a compromising companionship."<p>

"B-but that's" Ino started only to stop when Asuma held his hand up.

"I'm not threatening you two or telling you to stop it, whatever it may be, but you two need to separate your personal lives from your professional lives. Got it?"

"Hai Asuma-sensei." Ino grumbled out.

Sighing at having to play the bad guy Asuma pat Ino on her head.

"Good, now go track down the blonde dork and bug him."  
>"Hey!" Naruto shouted causing Ino and Asuma to look up above them. There, perched high up, above them was Naruto. He was 'lying' down on the underside of the crow's nest using chakra to keep his back attached to the wooden surface. "Who are you calling a dork?"<p>

Asuma glared up at the boy.

"Weren't you returning a bowl of rice?" Asuma drawled out as he narrowed his eyes at the blonde.

"Well I was gonna, but then I just made a shadow clone do it for me. Besides," Naruto started as he cut the chakra keeping him attached and landed next to the other two. "you never said this was a private conversation."

Asuma opened his mouth to reprimand the boy when his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed. Naruto barely managed to catch him before he hit the deck.

"Asuma-sensei?" Naruto shouted in panic. This was now the second member of the team to be unconscious in his care and he was still too uncomfortable with it.

Ino, however, was a bit better suited for it.

The blonde girl immediately pulled the jounin from Naruto and laid him flat out the ground before checking his breathing and pulse. When it was confirmed the jounin was in fact still breathing and had a pulse Ino checked his temperature only to recoil in shock.

"Is he hot?"

"No!" Was Ino's dumbfounded response. "He's cold. It feels like he just stepped out of an ice chest."

The captain of the small vessel walked up and gazed down at Asuma before nodding. "Bloke finally dropped?"

In an instant Naruto was between the man and Asuma. Prepared for battle. The captain didn't look threatening, but Naruto had learned the hard way from Haku that looks, even effeminate ones, could hide brutal strength. The man before him was a lanky old man whose permanently tanned and weathered skin was pulled taunt over wiry muscles that belied his strength. He was dressed in simple white slacks and a light grey vest left open revealing a toned chest littered with various scars. Oddly, the man carried no sword or weapon.

Holding his hands up and stepping away from the lad the captain shook his head and laughed. "I ain't done it lad. The bloke said he'd taken some magic pill or other and that at some point he'd drop. Said stick 'em in a bed and let 'em sleep it off." The captain looked at several of his crewmates and gave a sharp whistle. "Oi, carry dis one below deck and stick 'em in his cabin."

"I got it." Naruto cut in before the two men could start walking this way. In a puff of smoke two more Narutos popped into existence and hauled off Asuma.

The captain watched with an amused grin as the two shadow clones left.

"Well dats a new trick. I done seen you ninja type make copy people out of water and arth, but never out of smoke."

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Eh-he well, their actually made of chakra not smoke."

"Catkra?"

"No no not catkra. Chakra."

Ino laughed and shook her head. "Naruto teaching? This ought to be worth watching."

"Whatever!" Naruto shouted back before huffing and facing the captain. "Anyways, chakra is just what we call the energy we use to do our various jutsu. Basically I use my energy to replicate myself." Quickly performing the jutsu Naruto created another shadow clone for the captain.

"Ah, I see. So then the copy obeys your commands?"

"I wish." Naruto drawled out in a deadpan.

"Oi! We mostly obey you! Not to mention half the time you create us we get killed!" The clone huffed before flippantly flicking a shuriken at Naruto who stepped to the side and let the blade whiz past him and into the ocean.

"Be gone pest." Naruto mumbled as he dismissed the clone with a wave of his hand. Shaking his head and the humiliating demonstrating Naruto sighed. "They usually do in battle, but anything outside that and they run wild."

"Monkey see monkey do no?" Ino chipped in.

Naruto growled and was about to tackle the girl when the captain cut in.

"If dat was just a copy of ya, then how come it had one of 'em metal stars?"

"Cause when I copy myself I copy everything on me. Otherwise the copies would all show up naked." Naruto immediately whirled around and pointed a finger at Ino. "Don't! There is no comment needed on that."

Ino's answering grin was pure sweetened cyanide. "Who me? No no I am just the cute lovable innocent babe of the team. No snide comments here."

"Woman, you breath snide." Naruto retorted.

The two probably would have escalated but the captain cut in once more.

"Den could you copy anything you were attached to?"

Naruto blinked at that.

"I have no idea. Never tried anything big."

The grin on the captain's face matched Naruto's. "Wanna give 'er a whirl?"

As the two began to speculate Ino shook her head and went to check on Asuma.

Leave the two loons to their games.

**8888**

Ino watched as the ship cook hauled in a massive pot that gave off a foreboding smell.

The man himself didn't look too suspicious, just horridly ostentations. He was an odd mix match of colors and cultures. He had an eye patch covering his right eye while wearing a massive red fedora hat that had feathers of a dozen different colors sticking out over the brim. Around the man's waist was a purple sash of some sort where a sword hung. His pants were ironed and pressed green khakis, and for a shirt he wore a thick black fur shawl. On top of the entire ensemble was a white apron that read 'kiss de chef' in crude red paint that had obviously been hand painted.

"Alright! Come and get it!" The exuberant man bellowed as he slammed the massive pot down on the chow hall table.

One by one the crewmembers came in and cast suspicious glances towards the mysterious pot. The chef, acting as if he were a maestro conducting the grand opera, waited until the chow hall had been filled before raising his hands in a grandiose gesture.

"Silence ye mutts!" The man barbarically bellowed before returning to his regal posture. "Now, since we have guest, which we ain't had in ages, I took it upon me self to whip up a special dish for tonight." A murmur went through the crew but the chef continued in a louder voice to drown out those who were talking. "Having worked, slaved, and sweated over this dish all evening I now proudly present my special molten earth gumbo!" With a flourish he heaved the lid off the pot allowing the, aroma, of the dish to wash over everyone. All were sent to fits of coughing and wheezing as their nasal cavities were assaulted by the poignant fragrance.

Ino clamped a hand over her nose and did her best not to let her disgust show. She was the honored guest here since no one else from her team had made an appearance. Asuma was probably still blacked out. Choji had no need for food. And Naruto was probably still scheming and plotting with that crazy captain. Meaning these men were suffering for them and she would be the only one to bear it. Sighing she was just about to pick up her bowl and fetch a serving, the smallest possible hopefully, when Naruto burst into the room.

"AH! There you are Ino-chan." Reaching out and seizing Ino by the wrist the blonde began to haul her out of the room.

"Hey! What gives?" Ino demanded even as she let the crazy blonde drag her down the halls of the ship. The chef's cries of saving her a bowl went unheard as she focused on Naruto.

"Well, we missed the better show since you were still blacked out, but we can still catch the last show of the day."

"Whiskers, what on earth are you talking about?"

"You'll see!" Naruto cheered with a carefree grin on his face as he kept pulling her forwards.

What worried Ino was the fact that the carefree grin didn't reach his eyes. It looked real, but his eyes were far too clouded for that to be how he truly felt. However, the moment the two made it on deck Ino lost her worries and her breath at the sight before her.

Beauty had taken Ino's breath as deftly as a robber, and she apparently had no intention of returning it any time soon.

Ino stood on the deck of the ship transfixed as her mind franticly scrambled to assemble some understanding the scene before her.

Two lovers, for no two but lovers could so perfectly and perpetually match one another, dancing and dueling in synchronicity. He wore blue of every shade ranging from bottomless voids of ice to breathlessly high hues. She wore naught but flaming flares of orange that danced sinfully close to red while holding a scandalously intimate court with yellow. She was sweeping and ethereal as she flaunted her plethora of resplendent colors about in a fiery flurry of suspended motion. He was unbending, unflinching, unshaking, and perpetually shifting to array himself in such a way that he might better mirror the beauty of his partner, for she was the true sight to behold. Aside from his tides he was unchanging, but this, this was her moment to display to all her beauty before night hid her from him. Where he ghost his lips over her white heat burnt away all colors save that of passion and desire.

Naruto chuckling snapped Ino out of her stupor.

Mind reeling as she attempted to pull her mind back to reality she huffed and stole one more quick glance at the setting sun before facing her own companion.

"What are you laughing at?" Ino demanded with a huff.

Instead of answering Naruto stepped behind her and scooped her up in his arms causing her to squeak. Before she could protest Naruto leapt upwards with a pulse of chakra that left the two of them standing on the railing of the crow's nest.

The poor chap who had been keeping watch nearly fell out of the nest in shock.

"The hell!?" The startled shipmate hollered as he scrambled back to his feet.  
>"Don't worry. Cap'n said I could take over for you." Naruto lied effortlessly as set Ino down inside the crow's nest. "Besides," Naruto continued as he straightened. "I heard tonight's chow is to die for."<br>"Oh-ho?" The man questioned as he shifted his weight onto one leg and leaned against the mast. "Chikako actually whip up something good tonight?"

"Yeah, it's going quick too. You ought to go snag some." Naruto pressed dropping all pretenses in hopes of the belligerent man catching the hint.

"Well," The man mumbled as he crossed his arms "Sho will bring me some if it was any good."

Giving up Naruto sat on the railing and pointed out at the sun as it continued its steady trek.

"That," Naruto started trying to keep the right mood despite the third wheel. "That scene and its beauty is why I wear this color jacket." Naruto stated lamely. Sighing he knew from Ino's look of confusion it wasn't going how he had planned. He had planned to blow her away with the beauty of the sunset, awe he, and then strike up the conversation with that before slowly leading to the more _fun_ things to be discussed. Sadly it had failed. Miserably. She was more curious about why he wanted the man gone than she was interested in the sunset. The mood was gone.

"Okay?" Ino questioned not understanding where the enigmatic blonde was going. Even she knew he was trying to start something but was hesitant to do so with the third wheel of the watchman.

"Nevermind." Naruto mumbled out while sighing and shaking his head. "Just wanted to show you the sunset. It looks totally different out here than it does back home no?"

"It does. Here you can actually see it drop beneath the water. Back home it kind of just got lost in the trees." Ino responded half heartedly playing along.

"Heh, everything got lost in the trees." Naruto blinked at that. "Did you ever get lost?"

"Eh?" Ino was taken aback by the sudden turn in conversation. "Lost as in…?"

"As in lost. With all the trees and forest back him did you ever get lost in them. Just wander into the forest and end up lost?"

"No, not really. I always had someone with me who knew where we were going." Ino narrowed her eyes in suspicion as a sly grin crept across her face. "You got lost didn't you?"

"Not for long!" Naruto declared. "I managed to find my way back to the village, though I some how ended up on the top of the hokage monument."

Ino shook her head and leaned against the railing to look out at the sunset as Naruto was.

"Only you could blunder to the top of the hokage monument."

"What does that mean?"

"The top of the hokage monument is guarded and off limits. Only you could bumble into a restricted zone and get away with it."

"Wha!?" Naruto questioned. "But I've been up there dozens of times! I go up there most mornings when I don't have any missions or team meetings."

"You're kidding?" Ino turned away from the sunset and looked at Naruto in genuine curiosity.

Naruto shook his head.

"Nope. I honestly go there all the time and just chill. Depending on what mood I'm in I'll go sit on the various heads and talk to them. If I'm real happy I'll go talk with the First and tell him all about how the village is doing. If I just got back from an epic mission then I usually go bug the Fourth and brag about it to him. And," Naruto paused for a moment before continuing. "if I have questions I go ask the Third. He was one of the few who listened to me, so I figure he wouldn't mind if I still asked him for advice every now and again. Though, he used to give much better advice."

Both Ino and Naruto looked over their shoulders as they heard a rustle. The man who had been standing behind them silently the whole time was now sliding down a rope to the deck below.

Naruto was about to snort and comment on the man's actions when Ino cut him off.

"And, what about the Second?" The blonde girl inquired trying to keep him on task.

"Hmm?" Naruto questioned as he turned back to Ino. "What about him?"

"Well, you said you visit the First, Third, and Fourth. What about the Second? Do you not visit him?"

Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I do, but not to really talk. See, his hair is carved into the stone at the perfect angle to lie down on and take a nap. So, whenever I go visit him I usually end up falling asleep."  
>Ino laughed so hard she threatened to fall over the railing.<p>

"You nap on his head? That is horrible! I wonder why they let you climb up there so freely."

"What'cha mean?"

"Like I said, the Hokage Monument is constantly under guard. Weren't you in class the day Iruka-sensei took us to see the monument? He gave this huge spiel about how there was always a squad of chunin assigned to guard the monument from people who might ruin the monument. I wonder why you are allowed up there."

Instead of answering as Ino had expected Naruto grew silent and slid away from his fellow blonde.

Taking her eyes off the sunset, which had grown a deeper shade of orange that bordered on red and set the sky on fire in a vibrant display of reds that artist yearned to recreate on canvas, Ino looked at him in question. He was far too withdrawn for her to read him. His eyes were downcast and focused on anything but her.

"Probably comes with my status." Naruto mumbled.

"Status? As a ninja?"

"Heh, no." Naruto sucked in a breath and screwed his eyes up tightly before releasing a heavy sigh. "You have a lot of questions no?"

Ino blinked. This was the third time in the past ten minutes or so that the conversation had taken an abrupt turn and she was having difficulty following it. It felt like there was some elephant in the room she didn't know about that Naruto was trying to talk about.

"Well, do you have question for me?" Naruto prodded again while keeping his eyes fixed on the setting sun.

"Yes… Is there any specific one I should be asking?" Ino asked to which Naruto laughed morosely.

"Nah" Naruto answered as he shook his head. "You're over thinking this conversation though. Just ask the questions you have and I'll answer them. Just," Naruto paused and swallowed a lump in his throat. "promise me you won't shout or anything. I don't need the crew, or anyone for that matter, hearing this."

Ino stared at the boy before her. The gravity of the conversation was finally beginning to weigh down on her and she was no longer certain she wanted to know the answers to her questions. Not if they brought out this side of Naruto. She liked the happy-go-lucky kid, the carefree goof that always made her smile, the boy of a thousand tales who could enthrall her with a story at a moments notice. This boy, whose cerulean blue eyes were as dark, deep, and unfathomable as the sea they sailed across, was a creature Ino wasn't certain she wanted to get too involved in. Just as she had no desire to meet the monsters of the ocean blue she was far from certain she wanted to see this one through and through.

This was the Naruto she had only seen once before.

But here he was offering to answer her questions. She couldn't just say 'nevermind' and then walk away. But she also was certain that she wasn't certain enough about her feelings towards the enigmatic blonde to find out the whole truth right now.

"Well, why is your body so different from everyone else's?"

Naruto flinched at how she had worded the question. Had she worded it differently he might have been able to skate around giving the full answer.

"You want the long and nasty version, or the short edited one?" Naruto offered even as he mentally kicked himself for trying to find an out.

Ino hesitated for a moment. She wanted to say that she wanted to hear it all, but the fact she couldn't bear to meet his gaze while it was steely like this told her otherwise.

"The short version for now. Please." Ino mumbled miserably as she kicked herself mentally for being such a coward.

Naruto nodded at the bittersweet blessing. He was thankful he wouldn't have to spill all the beans, but he was also sad that she wasn't ready to hear the full story.

"Well, when I was born a seal was placed on me that altered my body. That same seal is the reason my mind is so different and so heavily guarded." Naruto explained before lifting his shirt up and molding a small portion of his chakra causing the seal to appear on his stomach. "See? This seal is also the cause of my body being so adaptable, constantly warm, and immune to sickness or cold. This," Naruto started as he summoned his sword. "on the other hand is a new thing that changed the seal. It made me fireproof and it also gave me the huge increase in chakra reserves. It is also why my body has been changing recently."

"And, why was that seal placed on you to begin with?"  
>Naruto was silent and pensive for a moment.<p>

"To keep the village safe." He finally answered. "Gave me a status amongst the higher ups. Probably why they let me up to the hokage monument so freely."

Ino nodded and tried to file everything away for later. She knew that she was still missing half the story, but she had asked for the edited version so she would take it. For now she needed to decide what other questions she had.

"Why are red colored eyes a bad idea in Konoha?"

Naruto nearly fell of the railing at the question. He thought he was in the clear! He had just skated around the furbal with the seal and what not. Now she had to ask one question that tied directly back to the fox? Sighing for what Naruto swore was the last time he formulated an answer.

"Because, well… it brings up bad memories for a lot of people. There was an incident a while back that left many people hating crimson colored eyes."

"Oh the Uchiha massacre!?" Ino supplied thinking she had finally figured one of his secrets out of her own accord. However, Naruto's eyes growing even colder at the mention of that event killed the idea.

"Nah, that was a totally different event. Well, not totally separate." Naruto mentally kicked himself the moment he said it and continued on to try and lead Ino away from his slip of the tongue. "Anyways, after the event no one in Konoha likes people with crimson eyes. Which I now half have thanks to the sword."

"That was another thing. Where did you even get that sword?"

Naruto grinned and let out a breath of relief. They were in clear waters now. Leaning back and watching as the sun finally faded out of sign and dipped beneath the waters of the sea Naruto put his hands behind his head and gazed up at the stars which were now visible thanks to the sun's disappearance.

"I stumbled across the sword several days after I talked with you in your garden actually. Kaka-sensei and I were sent out on a mission to eliminate a group of bandits and Kaka-sensei said it was okay for me to keep one souvenir. So I searched and stumbled across a sword hilt. Not a sword, a sword hilt. That was all it was. Being me I couldn't help but swing it around like it was a sword. Next thing I knew the sword had merged with me and had become a 'physical manifestation of my very being.' Or so says my inner demon."

"That was when you asked me to help you access your mind?"

"Yep."

"What happened in there?"

"I found out what all the sword changed." Naruto responded dully. And while Ino knew he was meaning the physical changes she also felt as if there was some part of it all that she was missing.

Everything he had told her so far had sounded like the truth, but only half truths. Everything was interconnected. The event that made anyone with red eyes a social pariah was why the seal had been placed on him at birth. Yet, the missing part of the sword threw her off. If all she had to work with was the first two clues then she would just need to look back at Konoha history to figure it out. But then the sword came into the picture. What would have happened that would still be changing to this day. Whatever it was that tied them all was obviously something Naruto was religiously keeping secret. And something she did not want to know about yet. She liked him, that much was beyond obvious, but she was nowhere near certain enough about her feelings to dive head long into whatever mysterious secrets were tied to her sphinxlike teammate.

But he had opened up and she now had enough answers to put her worries at rest. She now had a million more, but at the moment she had enough.

Moving behind Naruto who was hunched over and balanced precariously on the railing Ino wrapped her arms around him in a hug. She felt him go stiff for a moment before finally relaxing into the embrace.

"Thanks Whiskers."

Naruto rumbled with laughter.

"It's fine. Though, it is sad that we missed the show."

"The show was the sunset?" Ino asked perplexed.

"Well yeah! The sunset and the sunrise are two of the three most beautiful things in this world. They are half the reason I go up to the hokage monument so often. I love to just watch the sun rise and set from up there. It energizes me and puts me at ease all at once. Great way to end or begin the day no?"

Ino chuckled and nodded.

"I suppose. A lame reason to sneak onto a guarded monument, but a good one all the same. Though, if they are two of the three most beautiful things in this world then what is the third?"

Naruto laughed and hopped out of her embrace to stand precariously on the railing.

"Why, you of course Ino-no-kimi" Naruto stated matter of factly as he leaned forward to plant a chaste kiss on Ino's lips. Standing straight once more he grinned at seeing her speechless. With a wave and a pulse of chakra Naruto vanished from sight as the last light from the sun winked out.

Moments later he was too far away to hear her as she squealed and spun circles in glee.

**8888**

Naruto sighed as looked down at the still unconscious Asuma. Poking, prodding, nudging, shaking, and even tickling wouldn't rouse the jounin from his drug-induced slumber. The ship had docked in the wee hours of the morning and the captain had given them a strict three-hour limit to vacate the place before the ship would be making its next voyage across the sea.

That had been three and a half hours ago.

The team was currently camped out in a random hotel Naruto had snagged a room at before the captain had kicked them out. Ino was out purchasing breakfast while Choji and Naruto worked to rouse their team leader. So far a bucket of ice-cold water was looking like a mighty fine idea. The only issues were locating the aforementioned bucket of frigid liquid and how to clean the mess up after dousing the jounin in it. Luckily, Ino re-entered the room with several bags of food preventing the two boys from wreaking too much havoc upon the room.

"Ugh, the vendor wouldn't shut up!" Ino whined as she deposited the food on the table and sagged against the wall. "I bought four things from two separate vendors in the time it took to snag one thing from that last old fart. I swear the creepy old prune was oogling." She shivered at the memory before heading towards the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower since the blasted boat didn't have…" Ino started only to trail off as she realized the boys had totally tuned her out and were going to town on the food. "Pigs."

"Takes one to know one!" Naruto shot back around a mouthful of food before quickly ducking behind the table to avoid the kunai Ino hurled at him.

"Bastard." Ino huffed before storming off to the bathroom.

Naruto simply laughed and resumed eating.

Choji shook his head.

"You two are horrible." The tubby boy mumbled.

"We are not!"

"You are too. And it's not nice to call girls pigs."

"Hey it's not my fault her name…"

Naruto never got to finish his sentence as a blood-curdling scream came from the bathroom. Probably loud enough for the occupants of the building next door to hear.

Without a moments hesitation Naruto was up and at the bathroom door rushing to help. Only to be knocked back as the bathroom door was blown open.

Ino stormed out and glared daggers at Naruto who was now sprawled out on the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me about this!?" Ino demanded as fury radiated from her frame. The _this_ she was referring to was the vicious looking scar on her neck she was jabbing at with her finger.

"Uh," Naruto stammered out as his back hit the wall behind him. "Cause I didn't want you to flip out?"

"Oh brilliant! And what would you have done if we hadn't of paused here? Just wait till someone pointed it out to me? Huh? Wait till my mom and dad are freaking out about to tell me? Oh wait, you wouldn't be there for that would you? You'd be off enjoying ramen or something while I dealt with two panicking parents and tried to figure it out myself. Brilliant! What were you thinking!?"

Naruto snarled and leapt back to his feet.

"Well, pardon me for saving your life!" Naruto shouted back. Getting yelled at was one thing. Being yelled at for saving a life was something else entirely. Snarling he moved forwards clearly invading her space. "That was the only thing I could do to save you!"

"I don't care about the scar itself!" Ino snarled back as she met him step for step until the two were practically nose to nose. "But why didn't you tell me!? That was stupid!"

"Well _pardon_ me! We aren't all as vain as you. Some of us.."

The resounding crack of Ino's palm against Narutos cheek was apparently loud enough to rouse the nearly comatose Asuma.

"Gurk." Asuma grumbled as he slowly returned to the land of the living.

Naruto and Ino both took two steps away from one another. One placed a hand over his cheek without taking his eyes off the other or taking the steel out of his gaze. The other turned away from Asuma in an attempt to rid herself of any stray tears before he could see. Thankfully the jounin was far from astute. Instead he immediately rolled over and groaned.

"Fuck." Was Asuma's eloquent remark as he screwed his eyes shut in pain.

"Asuma-sensei?" Choji questioned as he sat up to attend to Asuma. Neither Naruto or Ino seemed to be in the right state of mind to deal with their sensei at the moment.

"Choji?" Asuma questioned blearily. He opened one eye to try and take in his surroundings but immediately shut it again. "Ugh, kami I hurt. Where are we."  
>"Uh, we're in a motel at the sea village the ship dropped us off at. Are you okay?"<p>

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. My body is just in shock from the use of that pill. But, we are due back to the village today so Naruto will need to carry me back until my body levels off enough for me to move."

Ino, who had finally regained control of herself, turned and moved to sit beside Asuma.

"We can always just rest here for a bit Asuma-sensei. We already rented the room for the night and we can always get another. Koyuki paid us more than enough extra to afford another room."

"No." Asuma ground out as he struggled to a sitting position. "We're due back today by lunch."

"So?" Ino demanded. "You're hurt and need to rest. Tsunade-sama will understand when we turn in our mission reports."

Asuma cracked and grin and shook his head slowly.

"Not this time Ino. Everyone ready to move out?" Asuma questioned without opening an eye.

Choji and Ino exchanged worried glances.

Naruto simply sighed and moved forward to carry Asuma on his back.

"Yeah, we're ready to move out Asuma-sensei. Ino will go pay the front clerk and Choji will clean the room while I get you outside."

"What!?" Ino demanded.

"Ino!" Asuma barked out before immediately clutching his head in pain. "Do as you are told. We are to report back in before lunch today. In the past we have stayed late, but… things have changed."

Ino and Choji both turned wide eyed looks of confusion to Naruto as they finally understood.

Naruto simply shrugged as he began to hoist Asuma onto his shoulders.

**8888**

Tsunade was worried.

And it was only partly due to Naruto.

Mostly her worry was due to her teammates actions in the past twelve hours. Or, rather, lack of action. Every since she had explained the full situation to him last night he had yet to move from his spot on the couch. He had curled his feet beneath him and assumed the lotus position before going still. She had stayed the night, taken care of all of her remaining work, gotten a bottle of sake, offered it to her statue of a teammate, talked to her teammate, finished the bottle of sake, got another bottle of sake, started on today's work, finished the bottle of sake, and was now beginning the new day wearing the same clothes she had dawned twenty four hours ago. People had come and gone through the room to conduct the morning's business and they hadn't noticed him. Yet, he had still to move a muscle. Hell, there had been several times that she had thought he had stopped breathing.

With a huff she decided enough was enough.

Standing up and moving around the desk she stood in front of him for several moments. When he still didn't stir she reached her hand out to tap him on the shoulder.

And then she was pinned against his chest with one arm binding her arms at her side and another placing a kunai against her throat. And apparently at some time had had found the time to use his **Wild Lion's Main Technique** to bind all four of the ANBU hidden within the room.

For a single heartbeat pure terror froze Tsunade as she realized she was dead. Not techinically, but in a ninja's line of work being put in the situation was to be taken as being dead. A warning. A sign of failure. A sign she was _severely _outclassed.

And then he released her and her guard and returned to his position of meditation with only a mumbled "Sorry" before he resumed his statue-like vigilance.

He had immobilized her. No, he had immobilized her and her guard without even trying. Hell, he hadn't even thought about what he was doing. She hadn't even realized what was happening until it was already over and he was releasing her. He could have slaughtered her and her guard and no one could have done a thing to stop him. Because his skill surpassed their own to such an extent they had been naught but mere flies to him. True he had caught her off guard. But the fact remained she had just lost, horridly, against her teammate.

As she motioned for her ANBU to stand down and returned to her seat behind her desk, she swore it was strictly because she had work, she struggled to stop her hands from shaking.

Defeat was new to her.

Fear was even newer.

Just how far had she fallen behind?

She knew he had grown in the time since she had seen him last, but the extent to which he had grown had never been made this clear. She had seen him fight Orochimaru, albeit with a handicap, but she had figured most of the drug had worn off by then and that that had been his full potential. Apparently she was in a sever need of reevaluating her teammates level of skill.

And her own as well.

Her musings were cut short as Jiraiya's eyes snapped open setting all in the room on edge.

He either didn't notice or didn't care as he stood up and moved to the window.

"They are back."

Tsunade was on her feet in an instant.

"He's back!?" She questioned excitedly.

Jiraiya's held their edge and never left the window.

"They are back and him or someone with chakra identical to him is with them."

Tsunade frowned.

"What do you mean? No two people have identical chakra, especially not in Naruto's case."

"I know. I also know that only death is capable of removing an individuals name from the scroll of summoning."

The two sannin exchanged no further words and merely awaited the arrival of Team Ten.

**8888**

Naruto couldn't help but squirm at the awkwardness of the situation. He was standing in front of Tsunade. Carrying Asuma on his back while the jounin gave his verbal mission report. Ino and Choji were both giving him, and had been giving him, inquisitive looks. And to top it all off Pervy Sage was standing in the corner of the room using his eyes in an attempt to bore holes into the side of Naruto's skull.

Rather awkward all things considered.

"And, now here we stand." Asuma finally finished.

"I see." Tsunade responded though her eyes were focused solely on Naruto. "Well then I expect a more detailed account in writing by tomorrow afternoon. Now, Team Ten, with the exception of Naruto, you may be dismissed."

"Uh…" Naruto started only for Tsunade to cut him off.

"Choji, please take Asuma and return him to his apartment." Tsunade commanded.

The tuby genin flinched at the sharp tone but complied nonetheless.

After a moment or two of shuffling Asuma had been transferred to Choji and the team had retreated.

As soon as they were gone Tsunade waved a hand and four ANBU materialized out of nowhere.

Now Naruto was seriously beginning to worry.

"Uh, Ba-chan. What's going on?"

"You are going to explain why your name is no longer on the scroll of summoning." Jiraiya answered as he finally pushed off the wall and came to stand in front of Naruto. "And you are going to do so very quickly."

Naruto snarled at the older man.

"No, you're gonna tell me what the hell the scroll of summoning is and why I'm being interrogated."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and stepped closer.

"The scroll of summoning? You don't remember the massive scroll you signed when you formed the contract with the toads?" Jiraiya demanded.

"Of course I remember it! What does that have to do with anything!?"

"Your name is no longer there!" Jiraiya shouted silencing Naruto and causing the blonde to step back in shock. "And the ONLY time that happens is when the being whose name is signed has died. Now, what happened?"

Instead of answering Naruto blinked in confusion.

"My name vanished? As in I can't summon? No. That can't be!" Naruto began to run through the seals to summon his favorite little red toad when Kyuubi's laughter stopped him.

'_You did this!?'_

A rumble of laughter was the only response he got.

Snarling Naruto turned back to the gathered ninja.

"I don't know what happened." Before Jiraiya or Tsunade could demand he explanation he Naruto continued. "But I know who does!" He shouted to be heard over their protest.

Turning to face the door Naruto summoned his sword and hurled it at the top of the doorframe.

As it had with the stone the blade sunk to the hilt in the doorframe before thick murky orange chakra bled out of the doorframe and covered the entire door. A moment later and the chakra flashed to reveal a portal to the Kyuubi's seal. Unlike before the fox was not dumbfounded by the appearance of the seal.

Instead, the giant fox had shrunk from his hulking proportions to a size easily seen by all within the office. The fox sat back on his haunches with his head gazing down at all the occupants of the room. His tails lazily swept back and forth behind him.

"Alright fox, what the hell did you do?" Naruto lazily questioned the fox trying to keep all occupants in the room from freaking out.

"**Me?" **Kyuubi's rumbling voice questioned innocently even as his pearly white fangs formed a sinister smile. **"Why ever do you suppose that I am to blame?"**

Naruto rolled his eyes for show but was inwardly glad the fox was playing along with not setting the others off.

"Naruto…" Tsunade started. Terror and wonder both heavily laced her voice. "What is this?"

"This," Naruto said as he turned to face the room and gestured towards the portal. "is the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Kyuubi meet the Hokage of Konohagakure Tsunade Senju and her teammate Jiraiya of the sannin."

The fox's grin grew as he stood and offered a regal bow by bowing his head and lowering the upper half of his body by crossing his right paw over his left paw and bending his left arm. When he stood back to his full height his eyes shone with mirth at the situation.

"**Greetings Hokage-Sama Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. I am the Kyuubi no Yoko, Great Demon Kitsune of the West, Strongest of the Nine Biju, Demon Lord of the North, Third of the Ancient Four, and Boss of the Demon Kitsune. Tis a pleasure to make your acquaintance at long last."**


End file.
